Moeder met baby in de armen 1874

Constant Aimé Marie Cap created this etching, “Mother with Baby in Arms," using a metal plate, likely copper or zinc. The image is built up through tiny, deliberate lines incised into the metal. Acid then bites into these lines, allowing them to hold ink. The plate is then wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines. When pressed onto paper, the image emerges, revealing the artist’s vision through the skilled manipulation of material and process. This printmaking technique allowed for the relatively quick reproduction of images. In Cap’s time, this was a rising mode of cultural dissemination. Etchings like these democratized art, making images accessible to a wider audience beyond the elite who commissioned original paintings. The very nature of etching – its reliance on mechanical reproduction – reflects the changing landscape of art and society during the industrial era. The work invites us to consider the social context in which art is made and consumed, and to question traditional hierarchies between craft and fine art.