Drinker 1830 - 1863

Johannes Adrianus Schultz created this etching, simply titled 'Drinker,' sometime in the mid-19th century. The figure's pose is immediately striking, with the composition centering on the drinker as he leans back, glass in hand. Notice how Schultz uses line and form to convey texture and volume. The dense cross-hatching of lines on the drinker’s puffed sleeve creates a sense of depth. This invites the viewer to consider not just the surface of the image but also the construction of the space within it. The slightly tilted perspective, along with a limited tonal range, suggests a destabilization of traditional artistic conventions. Schultz uses the semiotics of the scene to imply a narrative, yet stops short of clearly defining one. In this piece, Schultz challenges the viewer to find meaning in the formal qualities of the work. Here we aren't presented with a clear moral narrative. Instead the etching acts as a site for the construction and deconstruction of meaning.