Familieportret van de kunstenaar 1861 - 1889

This is William Unger's family portrait, made using etching, a printmaking technique that relies on acid to bite into a metal plate. The character of an etching comes down to the artist's skill with a sharp needle, and their knowledge of acids and resists. Unger would have used a needle to scratch an image into a wax coating on the plate, then bathed the plate in acid. The longer the acid bath, the deeper the line. The result here is a network of fine lines of varying depths and thicknesses, built up to suggest shadows, textures, and forms. The image is a window into Unger's world, complete with children, onlookers, and the trappings of a bourgeois home. The very process of etching, with its steps and hidden transformations, mirrors the complexities of family life. It reminds us that beneath every finished artwork lies a deep history of labor, skill, and social context, and the artist's hand.