Wandelende dame met hond in een landschap c. 1877

Norbert Goeneutte made this etching, "Wandelende dame met hond in een landschap" – or "Woman Walking with Dog in a Landscape" – with needle and acid on a copper plate. The magic of etching lies in its balance of control and accident. The etcher protects the plate with a waxy "ground," then draws through it with a needle. Acid bites into the exposed lines, creating grooves that will hold ink. Scratches and imperfections can also take ink, adding texture. Here, Goeneutte uses these qualities to great effect. The closely hatched lines suggest not just form, but also the vibrant atmosphere of a windy field. You can almost feel the breeze and hear the rustling grass. He renders the woman’s fashionable dress and the landscape with the same vocabulary of marks, collapsing distinctions between figure and ground. The print medium also democratizes the image. This was not a unique artwork, but rather one of many impressions. Though Goeneutte was a skilled artist, the etching process allowed his work to circulate widely, reaching audiences far beyond the traditional art world. The resulting image, though small in scale, offers a window into the leisure and fashion of late 19th-century life.