Gezicht op een kade met fabrieken op de achtergrond 1851 - 1927

Armand Guillaumin created this etching, 'View of a Quay with Factories in the Background,' using the printmaking technique of etching. The artist would have covered a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then scratched an image into that coating, exposing the metal beneath. When dipped in acid, the exposed lines would be eaten away, creating grooves. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines. Finally, the plate is pressed onto paper. Here, Guillaumin captured the looming factories, whose smokestacks pollute the sky. The printmaking process is itself an industrial one, capable of producing identical images in multiples. In this work, the artist acknowledges the changing landscape of labor and production, and by implication, criticizes them. Guillaumin reminds us that art can confront pressing social issues. By uniting traditional techniques with images of modern industry, he blurs boundaries and prompts us to consider the impact of progress on our world.