Landschap met twee figuren in de schaduw van een heuvel 1841

This etching, "Landschap met twee figuren in de schaduw van een heuvel" was made by Hendrik Jozef Franciscus van der Poorten in 1841. The artist used an etching technique to create this miniature landscape. Van der Poorten would have coated a metal plate with wax, then drawn this composition with a sharp needle, exposing the metal. Immersing the plate in acid would bite away at the exposed lines, incising the image. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines, before being pressed onto paper. The texture and tonality of the print result entirely from this process: the fineness of the lines, the way they describe light and shadow, and the way the artist has used this technique to depict laborers resting in a rural landscape. This work prompts us to consider printmaking not just as a reproductive medium, but as a skilled craft, reflecting the socio-economic context of its creation.