Fotoreproductie van een prent naar een schilderij van een kind dat een geit optilt naast twee andere geiten before 1873

This photomechanical reproduction of an earlier print presents a child hoisting a goat, dating to an unknown time and maker. The process involved in its making -- photography reproducing lithography -- speaks to a shift in image production. Lithography allowed for relatively quick replication, and this image is a copy of a copy. A material reality that speaks to the increasing industrialization of art. Look closely at the soft tonal gradations, the fine lines that describe the figures. These were achieved through chemical means, a far cry from the hand-drawn aesthetic of earlier printmaking. The original image may have celebrated rural life, but here, it is filtered through layers of mechanical reproduction, calling into question the value and authenticity of such representations. This reminds us that mass production has irrevocably changed the way we engage with images.