Delights of Fishing 1823

Charles Turner made "Delights of Fishing" using etching and aquatint, processes that rely on acid to bite into a metal plate, creating an image that can be printed many times over. This was around 1809, when such techniques were central to the mass dissemination of imagery. Look closely, and you’ll notice the soft gradations of tone, achieved with careful control of the aquatint. Turner would have used powdered resin, dusting it onto the plate before applying acid. This creates a mottled surface, which when printed gives a watercolor-like effect. The etching defines the sharp lines and details of the image. Consider this print in its original context. It made picturesque views accessible to a broad audience, feeding a growing appetite for leisure and landscape. These kinds of prints were relatively affordable, allowing people to consume idealized versions of rural life, even as industrialization transformed the English countryside. The labor-intensive processes of printmaking, paradoxically, fueled a market for images of leisure. The very act of making this artwork is therefore deeply connected to the social and economic shifts of its time.