Landschap 1752 - 1839

Curator: The etching before us, titled "Landschap," comes to us from Gerrit van der Pals. He worked on it somewhere between 1752 and 1839. Editor: It has the feeling of looking at an illustration pulled straight from the pages of an old novel. Dark, detailed, evocative. Curator: Indeed. Note how Van der Pals uses hatching and cross-hatching to create depth and texture, almost a precursor to photographic tonality. And it being an etching, of course it lends itself to prints which means broader availability for public consumption. Editor: Yes, but think of the material process. It began as a deliberate act. The labor and skill required to etch those fine lines into the metal plate – the pressure, the acid, the calculated time immersed… the means to replicate and disseminate depended upon a whole chain of material processes and social interactions! It couldn’t just be 'dashed off' like a digital sketch. Curator: It also presents a somewhat idealized view of the landscape. It echoes a time of aristocratic patronage where idyllic rural scenes spoke to control over land and resources. You get that in how the two central figures in the landscape, with their attire, dominate the view. Editor: Maybe, but I also see the hard, almost granular quality in the ground and in the scrub around them. These figures walk through somewhere tangible; that dirt isn’t 'idealized' and polished. Someone prepared this plate with tools, muscle, skill, and time—a true partnership between material and man. Curator: And we have to also ask, who was this 'landscape' for? Was it a romanticized notion to make an impression to be bought in middle-class circles and be hung on the wall, showing one's appreciation for landscape? The social dimensions are present from creation all the way to sale. Editor: Well said, I can certainly feel the many complex factors on both the micro and macro level now that you've called that to my attention! Curator: Right, thinking about the audience that engaged with these etchings tells us quite a bit about the politics of imagery, and access to artistic expression. Editor: A process of work etched into something larger! Wonderful.