President William Howard Taft 1911

Editor: So here we have Anders Zorn’s etching, "President William Howard Taft" from 1911. It's intriguing because, as a print, it's inherently reproducible, yet this one bears a personal dedication at the bottom. What strikes you about it? Curator: It's fascinating to consider this etching as a mass-produced image that is also, in this instance, imbued with individuality through inscription. Zorn’s technique, that rapid cross-hatching, would have been painstakingly rendered on the plate. This emphasizes the labor involved in even reproducible art forms, complicating our assumptions about the easy availability of such images. Look at the materiality of the print itself - the paper, the ink, the bite of the etching. How do these elements inform your understanding of Taft's power? Editor: I guess it's easy to forget how much labor was still involved in these processes even as industrialization was ramping up. Curator: Exactly! Think about the context. In 1911, photography was becoming more widespread for portraiture. Etching then represents a deliberate artistic choice, imbuing the subject with a certain gravitas crafted through a very manual, tactile method. The choice of this medium would elevate or aestheticize President Taft within particular social and cultural echelons. Where does Taft fit into the discussions around labour rights in 1911? The art becomes enmeshed with questions of class and the means of representation. Editor: That’s an interesting contrast – Taft’s position of power versus the very human labor embedded in the etching process itself. Curator: It also asks us to consider the market for these images, who collected them and what they signified within those networks. The material itself suggests a narrative about taste, class and power far beyond simply a portrait of the President. I never looked at a portrait from the same view! Thanks.