Een jongen ruikt aan een bloem 1723 - 1789

Jacob Hoolaart made this small etching, "A Boy Smelling a Flower", in the 18th century. The image is created by drawing through a waxy ground on a metal plate, then bathing it in acid. The acid bites away the exposed metal, creating lines that hold ink. Consider the labor involved. Hoolaart had to be skilled in metallurgy, chemistry, and drawing. The paper, too, was handmade, from pulped rags. Think about the social context here. While the image depicts a simple pastoral scene, its production was anything but. It relied on a complex network of trade, craft skill, and increasingly, capitalist enterprise. The print embodies a tension of the time. The rising merchant class yearned for an idealized vision of rural life, even as their own activities transformed the landscape. The making of this artwork, like the boy’s fleeting enjoyment of the flower, connects to a much wider world. Appreciating the materials and methods helps us see this.