Woman Reading 

Editor: So, here we have "Woman Reading", an intaglio print, likely an etching, by Angelica Kauffmann. There's a quietness to the piece, and the textures created by the etching are lovely. What strikes you about this work? Curator: What immediately grabs me is the process – intaglio printing. We see lines incised into a metal plate, holding the ink to create this image on paper. Consider the labor involved. How many hours to etch the plate? Who printed it? And how many impressions were made, for whom? Editor: That’s interesting. I was more focused on the subject matter. I hadn’t thought so much about the… production line of it, I guess. Curator: Exactly! We are looking at commodity production in action. The lines themselves reveal so much: the tools used, the artist's hand, the density showing the areas of pressure used. Is this a mass produced piece for popular consumption, or a more limited print for the wealthy? Editor: The detail seems pretty intricate, so maybe it wasn't *mass* produced in the modern sense? Curator: Possibly. Think about paper itself. Paper wasn't cheap. Who could afford this image? Was this part of a larger volume, perhaps? Look at her clothes and her book. Does this image serve an educational function for those learning to read? And, what would she have been reading? This image is an artifact reflecting very specific labor processes of its time. Editor: So, seeing the piece through that lens gives it a completely different story. Curator: Indeed. By considering production, labor, and materials, the image ceases to be just a “portrait” and becomes a fascinating window into the material culture of its time. Editor: It's really amazing to think about how much labor and materials were used to produce this work! Thanks for broadening my perspective.