Pieter Haringh 1655 - 1808

Editor: We're looking at "Pieter Haringh," an etching by Rembrandt van Rijn, made sometime between 1655 and 1680. There's something so immediate and almost modern about it despite being a baroque portrait. How would you interpret this work through the lens of materials and making? Curator: It’s fascinating to consider Rembrandt’s etchings through a materialist perspective, indeed. Rather than simply celebrating the likeness, we must ask about the labor involved in producing such prints. Think of the copper plate, the acids used for biting the image, the paper, and the printing press. Each of these represents not just a material, but also the skilled labor needed to transform it. Editor: So, beyond Rembrandt's skill, there were many unseen hands involved? Curator: Absolutely. And the act of creating multiple prints means the artwork becomes a commodity, entering a market, circulating among different social classes. The accessibility of prints challenged the elite's monopoly on art ownership. Think about the availability of copper, the access to printing presses, and how this potentially disrupted traditional patronage systems. Does this make you look at the artwork differently? Editor: It really does. The etching almost becomes a document of its own production, revealing the conditions of its making and circulation. It also emphasizes the skilled labor in producing and distributing art and making the consumption more widespread. Curator: Precisely! It reminds us to look beyond the image itself, to the broader economic and social context of its creation and consumption. Editor: It's interesting how a materialist perspective opens up a whole new layer of understanding beyond just the visual artistry. Curator: Exactly. It makes us think critically about the system in which art exists, then and now.