Groenteverkoopster aan de deur van een arbeiderswoning 1756 - 1807

This print, “Groenteverkoopster aan de deur van een arbeiderswoning,” was made by Balthasar Anton Dunker. It shows a vegetable seller at the door of a worker's home. The print was made using engraving and etching, processes demanding meticulous labor. Look closely and you can see all the tiny lines which create tone and texture. Through cross-hatching, Dunker has convincingly created the illusion of three-dimensionality. This print is made to appear as a spontaneous genre scene; yet, we know it was produced using a system of piecework that dominated the print industry at the time, an early version of industrial capitalism. The very material of the print, and the processes used to create it, reveal larger social and economic conditions. The image presents a scene of rural and urban commerce, but its making reflects the industrialization of art itself.