Figuren wandelen in een park te Brussel c. 1820 - 1841

Alexandre Joseph Boens made this lithograph of a park scene in Brussels, sometime in the early 19th century. Lithography is a printmaking technique that relies on the contrast between greasy and non-greasy areas on a stone or metal plate. The artist draws an image with a greasy crayon, then treats the plate so that ink only adheres to the drawn areas. Think about that process for a moment, and how it connects to the image itself. Boens has given us a park, a site of leisure. Yet the image only came into being through labor, both the artist's own handiwork and the work of preparing the plate. And not only that, but the printmaking process also allows for the image to be reproduced and distributed, further embedding the scene within a network of production and consumption. The very act of making this artwork, using this method, infuses the scene with a social context beyond that of simple recreation. So, next time you see a print, remember the complex relationship between the image and the means of its creation.