Ederkoppen 1845

This is Adolph Kittendorff's "Ederkoppen," an etching on paper. Look closely, and you’ll see that the image is built up from a dense accumulation of very fine lines. To make it, the artist would have coated a metal plate with a waxy substance, and then drawn through it with a sharp needle to expose the metal. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines, creating grooves. The deeper the grooves, the more ink they hold. When printed, these etched lines come alive, creating the tonality and detail you see here. In this work, the artist has captured a tranquil scene with a fallen tree and a spider's web. The fine lines of the etching bring out the textures of the tree bark, foliage, and delicate web, highlighting the intricate detail of the natural world. Consider the labor involved in such a work. The artist had to master the craft of etching, from preparing the plate to controlling the acid bath. This highly skilled process blurs the boundaries between art and craft, and the final print embodies a deep understanding of materials, process, and the natural world.