Kind met mand bij een toonbank waarachter een vrouw 1868 - 1910

Edgard Farasyn created this etching, titled "Kind met mand bij een toonbank waarachter een vrouw" which translates to "Child with basket at a counter behind which a woman," with a monochromatic palette. It's organized vertically with a child and two baskets occupying the lower half and a counter and woman the upper. The composition cleverly uses the counter as a horizon line which divides the visual field. Below this line, we see the textured rendering of woven baskets and the soft clothing of the child, which contrasts with the smoother planes of the counter and wall. The artist's manipulation of perspective and scale, along with the detailed cross-hatching, invites a semiotic reading. The basket, a signifier of labor or commerce, sits juxtaposed against the woman, possibly a merchant, suggesting a deeper commentary on social structures or gender roles. The formal arrangement here challenges a fixed interpretation, leaving room to question the representation of labor, value, and social hierarchy within the image.