Sydlandsk landskab med klipper, et vandløb med vandfald og tre fiskere 1743

This is a landscape etching by Johanna Fosie, made around 1745. Her chosen medium, etching, is significant. It's a printmaking technique involving biting lines into a metal plate with acid, inking the plate, and then transferring the image to paper with a press. The etched lines define the rocky landscape, with its waterfall and figures of fishermen. Etching allowed Fosie to achieve a high level of detail and a broad tonal range, from the deepest shadows to the lightest highlights. Etching was a relatively accessible medium in the 18th century, somewhere in between drawing and painting. It allowed artists to produce multiple impressions of their work, expanding their reach and influence, which is an important consideration when evaluating her practice. The widespread availability of prints also fueled a growing market for art among the middle class, so you can see that even this landscape had a relationship to the emerging economic patterns of the time. In its own way, it participates in the social life of labor, politics, and consumption.