Schepen en sloepen in een haven 1764 - 1826

Gerrit Groenewegen created this print of ships and boats in a harbor using etching, a printmaking technique, sometime before 1826. The nature of etching allows for incredible detail, and the precision is captivating. To make this print, Groenewegen would have coated a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then scratched an image into that coating. The plate was then immersed in acid, which bit into the exposed metal, creating incised lines. These lines hold the ink and transfer the image to paper. Consider the amount of labor embedded here. Not just Groenewegen’s, but that of the sailors who would have manned these vessels, the carpenters who built them, the merchants who traded on them. With its incredibly fine lines, this print belies the effort involved in maritime trade. It's a testament to the interconnectedness of art, labor, and commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries. In this sense, it is less a picture than a record of a complex world of making.