Landschap met waterval in Noorwegen c. 1773 - 1788

This print, "Landschap met waterval in Noorwegen," was made by Jean-Baptiste Michel using etching, a process involving biting lines into a metal plate with acid. The image is then printed, transferring the ink held in those lines onto paper. The scene, a Norwegian landscape, feels both romantic and industrious, as a house sits on a hill above the falls. Etching allowed Michel to create finely detailed textures, seen in the rocky landscape and the flow of the water. The print medium itself connects to a history of reproducibility, and its availability to a broader public, unlike a unique painting. The labor of making prints – from the initial drawing to the skilled work of etching and printing – speaks to a system of production, distribution and consumption. By considering this, we can appreciate how "fine art" prints like these engaged with the same social and economic currents as any other form of making.