Staande man met een lange jas, een pet en een object onder zijn arm 1836 - 1912

Isaac Weissenbruch made this small etching of a standing man sometime in the 19th century. The artist likely used a metal plate, coated with an acid-resistant ground, and then scratched an image into the surface using a fine needle. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines, creating an image that could be inked and printed. The image is economical: only what is needed to describe the man's figure is present. His clothes, which are rendered in dense, repeated lines, speak to the labor and the material conditions of the late 1800s. The image is an artifact of its own making, revealing the skill of the artist and the labor-intensive process of etching. This unassuming artwork thus invites us to consider the value of craft, the dignity of labor, and the social context in which art is created and consumed.