Stehendes Mädchen, eine Ziege fütternd c. 1869

Otto Scholderer made this etching, ‘Standing Girl Feeding a Goat’, using metal, acid, and ink. Etching, like engraving, is an indirect intaglio method, which means the lines of the image are incised into a metal plate. In this case, the artist would have coated the plate with a waxy, acid-resistant ground, and then scratched his composition into it with a needle. Acid would then have been used to bite into the exposed metal. The result is a finely detailed composition, with subtle gradations of tone built up through careful cross-hatching. This print beautifully demonstrates the special qualities of the etching technique, in the way that the artist used the lines to describe the texture of the girl’s clothing, and the rough fur of the goat. It is a celebration of both rural life and the skilled hand that could bring this scene to life on paper. Ultimately, it reminds us that technical know-how, just as much as artistic vision, is essential to the making of art.