Oude man met een baard en een muts 1658 - 1677

Editor: This is "Oude man met een baard en een muts" – "Old man with beard and cap." It's an engraving by Wallerant Vaillant, dating from the late 17th century and held at the Rijksmuseum. It feels intimate, almost somber. What do you make of it? Curator: Well, consider that this engraving is not an original design by Vaillant; rather, he is *copying* another artist’s design (likely Rembrandt). This process is important. What materials and methods are being employed to *reproduce* an image? Who had access to such technologies, and what were the politics involved in reproducing a master's image in print form for distribution? It makes me think about access and value... about art as labor. Editor: So you are thinking less about who the man in the portrait is, and more about how images like this one circulated at the time? Curator: Exactly! The focus shifts. How does the printmaking process change the experience of art? Engravings made art accessible beyond the wealthy elite, disrupting the notion of a unique art object and the associated cult of the artist. These reproductive methods created new markets. Think about the labor needed. Who did this work, and how did they make a living? What were the economic forces at play in 17th-century Dutch printmaking? Editor: That really shifts my perspective. I had initially thought about it in terms of its artistic qualities, the way it looks, but the making and distribution of art add layers of meaning. Curator: Precisely. This challenges the established boundaries between high art and craft by focusing on the physical means of production, distribution, labor, and, ultimately, the consumption of art within its historical social context. Editor: Thanks! Now I'll think about the hands that made this print as well.