Spotprent op de verschillende soorten courantlezers, 1870 1870

This print was made in 1870 by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans, using a technique called lithography. It's a method that relies on the chemical repulsion between oil and water. The artist would have drawn the image onto a flat stone surface with a greasy crayon, and then treated the stone so that ink would adhere only to the drawn areas. The resulting print has a distinctive texture, a kind of velvety smoothness that's different from, say, an etching or engraving. Given the rise of print media in the late 19th century, this mode of production allowed for images to be easily replicated and widely disseminated, influencing public opinion and shaping social discourse. Here, the artist offers a satirical view of Dutch society, poking fun at the different types of newspaper readers and the publications they consume. It is a reminder that the meaning of any image depends on how it's made, and the social context in which it circulates.