Twee meisjes 1758 - 1808

Christina Chalon made this etching of two young girls sometime in the late 18th century. She used a metal plate, covering it with a waxy ground before scratching away the lines of the image. The plate was then submerged in acid, which bit into the exposed metal to create grooves that would hold ink. The remarkable thing about an etching is its intimacy. It’s a readily reproducible medium, and yet the drawing retains a sense of immediacy. We feel close to the artist’s hand. Here, Chalon renders the figures with a minimum of fuss. The way she renders the folds of their clothing, the delicate expressions on their faces, all with such simple means, is remarkable. While it’s easy to see printmaking as a proto-industrial process, in Chalon’s hands it remains a means of personal expression, a method that bridges the gap between craft and fine art.