Gezicht op een haven aan de Maas 1740 - 1786

Jean Jacques Le Veau's "View of a Port on the Meuse" is an etching, made probably in the 1760s or 70s, using an image-making technology that was quite advanced for its time. The matrix would have been a metal plate, coated in wax, on which the artist would have carefully incised his composition. This would have been a skilled and labor-intensive process. Note the variety of marks Le Veau has deployed, to convey the scene’s atmospheric perspective. He’s captured a bustling port, its economic activity driven by the movement of ships along the river. The print medium itself, made possible by the division of labor, parallels the very scene that Le Veau depicts. The technique democratized image-making; prints like this one allowed views of distant places to be disseminated widely. So, while the etching may seem like a straightforward representation, it is in fact deeply embedded in the era's burgeoning culture of trade, technology, and global exchange. This piece connects directly to wider issues of labor, politics, and consumption. Looking closely at the materials and methods of its making allows us to appreciate the full complexity of Le Veau's image.