Gezicht op de Lagune van Venetië 1889 - 1902

This is "View of the Lagoon of Venice," an etching made by Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande. What I find especially interesting about it is the way he achieved the atmospheric effect. As an etching, this image began with a metal plate, likely copper or zinc, covered with a waxy ground. The artist would have drawn through this ground with a sharp needle, exposing the metal. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines. The resulting plate was then inked and printed. The quality of the line is crucial here: notice how soft and blurry it is, almost as if seen through fog. This was achieved by carefully controlling the etching process, perhaps by varying the strength of the acid or the length of time the plate was submerged. We can only imagine Storm van 's-Gravesande carefully wiping the plate to achieve the hazy effect he wanted, balancing a mechanical process with an eye for tonal variation. This print bridges the gap between pure representation and something more evocative, more expressive. It's an effect that many artists working in the late 19th century were after, as they sought to equal the achievements of painting in the more workaday medium of printmaking.