Hunter's Rendezvous n.d.

Victor Adam’s “Hunter’s Rendezvous” is an early 19th-century lithograph, a printmaking technique that relies on the chemical repulsion of oil and water. In this process, the artist would have drawn on a flat stone surface with a greasy crayon, then treated the stone so that ink adhered only to the drawn areas. The resulting print captures a gathering of hunters and their dogs. Lithography allowed for relatively quick and inexpensive reproduction, making images like this accessible to a wider audience. This print, with its detailed rendering of figures and landscape, speaks to the rise of leisure activities among the middle class. Consider the labor involved – not just Adam’s artistic skill, but also the work of quarrying the lithographic stone, preparing the inks, and running the printing press. These processes reflect a growing industrialization and a shift in artistic production, from unique handmade objects to mass-produced images. The very materiality of the print, and the means of its production, connect it to broader social and economic changes of the time.