Fra Københavns Rhed 1897

Editor: Here we have Carl Locher's 1897 etching, "Fra Københavns Rhed," which translates to "From Copenhagen Roads". The use of etching gives it this incredibly detailed, almost photographic quality despite its subject being the open sea. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the process and materials. Locher, choosing etching—a method dependent on acid and physical labor—highlights the industrial, even mercantile, reality underlying the seemingly tranquil scene. Editor: I hadn't thought about the work that goes into creating an image like this, especially back then. It makes me consider what the ships meant at the time. Curator: Precisely! These aren't just pretty boats. They are instruments of global trade and exploitation. How does the depiction of the city’s harbor function in relation to its participation in those markets? Think about the economic landscape that supports the luxury of creating and consuming art like this print. Who has the time, and resources, to depict or admire it? Editor: So, the print isn't just a landscape; it's connected to labor and power structures... The making of it, as well as the things represented inside of it? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the access to resources necessary for Locher to learn, produce, and distribute these etchings. Etching requires skills, and skills requires learning or apprenticeships, a form of labor often overseen by guilds in his historical setting. The content mirrors those forms of control as the content speaks to shipping and sailing – another series of controlled labour forces Editor: It gives a lot more meaning to the image when we consider this as an etching. The material informs us, right? It shows the artist, the tools used and the purpose of sailing at that moment! Thanks for this fresh viewpoint. Curator: It is important to think about production when we evaluate art objects as doing so really enhances what you learn. Thank you for your engagement with the material reality represented by the piece!