A Roman hall with a man addressing a crowd, a woman leaning over a stele, a dog, pots and the head of a man 1919

Editor: This is Lovis Corinth's "A Roman hall with a man addressing a crowd," an etching. The frenetic lines make it feel so active. What strikes you about this work? Curator: I see how the process of etching itself, with its reliance on labor and acid to "bite" the image into the plate, mirrors the social structures depicted. Look at how the lines create a sense of depth but also flatten the forms, forcing a tension between representation and the material reality of the print. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. So, the art’s making informs its meaning? Curator: Precisely! The very act of production, the labor, becomes part of the content. Editor: Thanks, I will remember that.