Portret van H.W. Mouton als baby 1877 - 1950

This small etching by Barbara Elisabeth van Houten captures H.W. Mouton as a baby with a network of tiny lines. Look at how the darkness gathers in the corners, and how it creates the form of the baby's head, dress, and little shoes. The beauty of an etching is the way it reveals a process, and how the artist coaxes an image from a metal plate. Van Houten’s network of lines, built up through cross-hatching, evokes the soft, rounded form of the infant. See how the concentrated marks define the shadows, and how the lighter areas are rendered with a more open, sparse touch. The whole image comes alive. It reminds me a little of Whistler’s etchings – that same interest in capturing fleeting moments and impressions with economy and sensitivity. Of course, art is always about that conversation, isn’t it? It’s never a single statement but an ongoing, evolving dialogue.