Le chien buvant dans le ruisseau c. 17th century

Curator: At the Minneapolis Institute of Art, we have an etching titled "Le chien buvant dans le ruisseau," or "The dog drinking in the stream," created around the 17th century by Anthonie Waterloo. Editor: What strikes me immediately is the density, it’s like peering into another world… A dog drinking seems almost secondary amidst that heavy darkness. I feel like if I breathe deep I'll smell moss and damp earth. Curator: It is incredibly detailed, and that detail comes from the etching process. We see lines cut into a metal plate, inked, and then printed to produce this very effect. The materials, ink and paper, lend themselves to this precise, reproducible image. The multiple layers are very common in baroque landscapes from this era. Editor: "Reproducible" feels like such an understatement! This tiny image, it bursts forth with a sense of something ancient. That tiny waterfall looks so refreshing that the viewer may have forgotten to look for a small canine figure in this great forest, which looks very much like our world, but, simultaneously, very unreal, fantastical! It gives me fairy tale vibes, not unlike little red riding hood, like danger may be around any of those looming trees. Curator: These landscapes by Waterloo and others catered to a growing market for art outside of religious or aristocratic patronage. The burgeoning middle class had more money, time, and interest for decoration. Landscapes became very profitable goods in 17th-century Europe. Editor: It's funny how the most commercially driven art can still, centuries later, possess this almost haunting atmosphere. Now I imagine this scene is not set in Europe, perhaps a South American rainforest instead. Curator: Well, the techniques of production—the skills, materials, labor—speak to both its cultural moment and to the artistic intention of the time. So this little dog in the stream allows us to peek at all the economic realities of 17th century Europe, from consumption of baroque art, up to today! Editor: Ah, but maybe he's lapping up something far more mysterious… some potion… which allows us to step into this whole world which, once was in Waterloo's mind, but, thanks to his skills, he can now share, reproduce, and create new imaginative territories, far beyond old economic realities!