Uit de dierenwereld 1850 - 1881

L. Beckmann created this print, "Uit de dierenwereld," using engraving techniques to depict scenes from the animal world. The organization of the print, with its compartmentalized depictions, reveals a specific cultural approach to understanding and categorizing the natural world. Prints like these, produced in Leiden, Netherlands, suggest an expanding public sphere, where knowledge about the animal kingdom was disseminated. It raises questions about the social conditions that shaped artistic production. Was it aimed at educating the public, or was it a form of entertainment? Did it reflect a growing interest in natural history, driven by colonial expansion and scientific exploration? To fully understand the social and institutional context of this print, we might turn to archives to understand the economics of printmaking, or natural history publications to see how accurate its depictions of animals are. The meaning of art changes when it’s considered in social and institutional context.