Hanen. Illustration til Kaalunds "Fabler for Børn". Se kommentar fra arkkatalog. 1843

Editor: We are looking at Johan Thomas Lundbye's 1843 ink and lithograph illustration, titled "Hanen. Illustration til Kaalunds \"Fabler for Børn\"". The etching is very fine and intricate, but almost looks hastily made in parts. What strikes you about this print? Curator: I am drawn to how Lundbye’s choice of lithography facilitated the mass production of these illustrations for children's fables. Consider the social implications of that - access to art, moral instruction distributed widely. What kind of labor was involved in creating both the original drawing and in its subsequent reproduction? Editor: That's interesting. It's almost as if the image democratizes storytelling. Given the simple tools, could he have produced these lithographs at home? Curator: Potentially, though even seemingly 'simple' tools represent access, economic standing, and the circulation of materials within artistic networks. The specific types of ink, the printing press available—these dictate the quality and scale of production. And note the Romanticist style influencing genre painting – can you see it? How does the choice of medium align with the social and political currents of the time? Editor: It makes sense when you describe the materiality connected to the Romanticist style because its labor contrasts the very idea of industrialization. What I see in the piece, however, isn’t clear enough in the print itself; one wonders what its original impact would have been when newly published. Curator: Precisely. We have to analyze its initial function in order to examine our modern viewpoint today. Examining how a piece was manufactured enables you to perceive the values it originally reflected as a mass commodity. Editor: So much of art history looks beyond the surface of what art displays, doesn't it? Curator: Absolutely. We’ve jointly revealed the value within the manufacturing of mass-produced art, not just the picture itself.