In het berghok 1885

Jan Veth made this etching titled 'In het berghok', which translates to 'In the mountain shed', sometime around the turn of the 20th century. Veth was a man of the Dutch Golden Age, an era marked by a flourishing of art and culture that mirrored the country’s economic and colonial power. Veth’s intimate sketch draws us into a cluttered shed, full of the tools of labour. The etching seems to be in quiet dialogue with labor. The tools, rendered with subtle detail, speak to a slower, more tangible way of life. The subdued tones and intricate lines convey a sense of nostalgia for a pre-industrial world. The space is more than just a repository for tools; it is a repository for memory, a tableau of human endeavor and the stories of those who toiled with these objects. The etching invites us to reflect on our own relationship with labor, and the artifacts that bear witness to the work of human hands.