Herderin met schapen 1926

This etching of a shepherdess and her sheep was made by Jean Emile Laboureur. It’s a pretty monochrome print, all lines and hatching, and what seems like a quiet moment in the life of the shepherdess. I wonder about the process of making an etching—the resistance of the metal, the pressure of the tool. You can almost feel Laboureur’s hand moving across the plate, scratching out the lines that define the figure and the landscape. The work feels like a dance between control and chance, where the artist guides the process but also allows for the unexpected to emerge. What was he thinking as he made it? Did he know a shepherdess? I imagine Laboureur thinking about the quiet solitude of tending sheep. He probably enjoyed making something so lovely out of the ordinary. I bet other artists saw this and felt like they were in conversation with him. Each artist adds to the mix and keeps the conversation flowing. It’s pretty nice.