Shepherd c. 17th century

Editor: This is "Shepherd" by Allart van Everdingen, held at the Harvard Art Museums. It's an etching, and I’m struck by the way the landscape seems almost manufactured through the density of lines. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the labor embedded in the printmaking process itself. The lines, seemingly spontaneous, are actually the result of careful, deliberate actions – the biting of acid into the metal plate, the physical act of printing. Editor: So, you’re saying the material process is integral to understanding the image? Curator: Exactly. The subject matter – a shepherd, a pastoral scene – is romanticized, but the etching process brings a layer of industrial production to it. It makes us consider the consumption and dissemination of images in Everdingen's time. Editor: That’s a totally different way of seeing it. I never considered the labor behind the image itself. Curator: Considering the means of production allows us to challenge the divide between the artistic representation and the reality of its making.