Portret van Madeleine Burty 1875

Marcellin Desboutin made this sensitive portrait of Madeleine Burty using the etching process. Here, a metal plate would have been coated with a waxy, protective layer, into which the artist scratched his design. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines, leaving an incised image. Ink was applied into these grooves, and the plate pressed against paper, transferring the image. The fine lines and delicate shading speak to Desboutin's mastery of the technique. But etching was more than just a way to reproduce images. In the 19th century, it became an artistic medium in its own right. Artists valued the directness of the process, the way it translated their hand movements into a printed image. Consider how the etched lines create not just the likeness of Madeleine Burty, but also the very texture of her hair and clothing. Desboutin's etching invites us to appreciate the labor and skill involved in its making, blurring the lines between reproduction and original artwork.