Meisje in de branding 1877

Curator: Looking at this print, dating to 1877, we see Edmond Lambrichs' work entitled, "Girl in the Surf." Editor: There’s something almost unsettling about it, a quiet stillness in the sketch-like rendering of the water combined with this figure immersed to the waist. Curator: The etching is printed on paper, and it is precisely this seemingly casual approach to materials that offered an interesting move away from established conventions during that period. Printmaking techniques were evolving rapidly. Editor: I see that. It has the quality of an industrial document. It’s a remarkably textural image given its apparent simplicity. What I find fascinating is how the medium contributes to the message. Curator: Absolutely. Its realist style, so common in genre painting, sought to represent everyday life, specifically highlighting experiences tied to burgeoning ideas around the concept of leisure in Europe and its relationship to changing labor structures. It gives a rare look at the social attitudes that encouraged everyday working people to engage more with recreational opportunities in public. Editor: So, do you mean that we are witnessing new perceptions in representing physical effort with all of that sea meeting skin here? The artist lets the materiality almost become the primary mode for depicting physical exertion. How are these kinds of printed works shown to larger publics? Curator: The print medium made art more accessible and affordable for the burgeoning middle class and for distribution through print journals. Etchings such as this played a critical role in circulating imagery and shaping social consciousness during the late 19th century. It is a form of what we now call media. Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. The artist is thinking carefully about the distribution chains when choosing materials and this informs what they do technically in this seascape scene. Curator: Precisely. This makes us reflect on the nature of work, play, and the rapidly changing cultural landscape of the time. Editor: It makes you think about the unseen labor required to bring images like these into existence and also what the changing meaning of an image becomes after all these steps are followed!