Heuvelachtige bosweg met figuur 1850 - 1913

This print of a forest scene, by H. van Meerbeeck, was made using etching, a printmaking technique that relies on acid to bite into a metal plate. The image is first drawn with a needle through a protective coating on the plate, and then exposed to an acid bath. The resulting lines hold ink, which is then transferred to paper. The texture and mood of this print is really all about the mark-making. Look closely, and you can see the artist used tiny, close strokes to build up the areas of dark shadow within the woods, leaving the paper bare in the distance to create light. The whole history of printmaking is tied up with capitalism, the distribution of images as commodities. Yet, the handmade character of an etching like this resists that tendency, asserting the presence of the artist's hand. Appreciating this tension allows us to look beyond the image, toward the human effort that brought it into being, challenging traditional notions of fine art.