Drie geiten 1742

Editor: This is "Drie geiten" or "Three Goats" by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, created in 1742. It's an etching and engraving. I'm struck by how raw the depiction is. What draws your attention in this piece? Curator: Immediately, I think of the material process. Etching and engraving weren't simply methods of artistic expression; they were industrial practices. How does Dietrich, by utilizing these printing techniques usually reserved for mass production, elevate or perhaps subvert our traditional notions of fine art? Editor: That’s a great question. I never really considered the printmaking process itself as having that kind of social context. Curator: Think about the socio-economic forces at play. Who commissioned these prints? Who could afford them? Were they destined for the walls of wealthy patrons, or circulated amongst a broader, less affluent audience? Also, observe how the textures created in the rendering of the goat's hair. What tools were used to get such effects, and what sort of labor was required? Editor: So, rather than just focusing on the image itself, you're prompting us to consider the entire network of production and consumption surrounding this etching. The print's very existence becomes a statement about artistic labor and distribution. Curator: Precisely! We shouldn’t separate this ‘genre-painting’ from its means of production. This little image encourages a broader thinking about art's position within society, its accessibility, and the role of the artist as not just a creator, but also as a producer. Editor: I’ll definitely look at prints differently from now on, understanding them not just as images, but also as artifacts of a particular social and economic moment. Curator: Exactly. Looking closely at its production allows a closer inspection of a cultural context of 18th-century artistic production.