Schepen op de Maas 1890 - 1930

This print, Ships on the Maas, was made by Philip Zilcken using the intaglio technique of etching. Take a close look, and you'll see how the image isn't drawn directly but rather emerges from the metal itself. An acid resistant coating would have been applied to a metal plate, and then the artist scratched away lines to expose the metal underneath. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed lines creating grooves. This allowed for the fine lines and tonal variations that define the scene. In the 19th century, prints were important means of circulating imagery and ideas, and the scene Zilcken captures is a port city, teeming with the energy of industry and trade. We see multiple ships, their smokestacks belching plumes into the sky, emphasizing the intensity of labor and production that fueled the area's economy. The very act of etching mirrors this industriousness, a labor intensive process in its own right. The artwork invites us to reflect on the social and economic forces at play in a rapidly industrializing world, reminding us that art is always entangled with the wider world of materials, making and context.