Zicht op de Place de la Concorde in Parijs 1845

Editor: So, this is "Zicht op de Place de la Concorde in Parijs" by Charles-Claude Bachelier, created around 1845. It's an engraving, a print. What strikes me most is how the hard lines of the architecture are softened by the crowd—a real depiction of city life. What can you tell me about it? Curator: What interests me about this piece is the method of its creation. As an engraving, the image is born from a deeply material process. Consider the labor: the painstaking carving into the metal plate, the physicality of the printing press. This wasn't just about aesthetic representation, it was a product of industrializing processes and their attendant social structures. How do you think this contrasts with painting? Editor: That's interesting! I never thought about it in terms of labor, but the detail involved must have been incredible. I guess a painting can be more individual. With this, it suggests a mass production, almost like creating multiple images. How would that relate to the viewer, at the time? Curator: Exactly. These prints would have circulated widely, shaping public perceptions of Paris, standardising and marketing a view of the city as the capital of culture and, by extension, power. Consider how the print flattens the scene, almost democratising the space by presenting it as easily accessible to anyone who could afford a print. Who would have consumed this image and how? Editor: Hmmm... perhaps this would've helped create the sense of a grand metropolis, consumed by a growing middle class? Almost as a postcard. I see your point now; it's less about art in a gallery, but about the broader influence of production and access. Curator: Precisely. We need to consider the means and mode of artistic creation itself as part of art history. Editor: Okay! So I am taking away that this is more than just an image of a place; it's a manufactured commodity. Curator: Yes. An engraving of the city is an instrument to reinforce specific visions.