View of a Farm (La ferme de Beauchamp) 

Alphonse Legros made this etching, "View of a Farm," using a metal plate, acid, and ink. An etching like this isn't drawn directly, but rather through an elaborate process. First, the metal plate is coated with a waxy, acid-resistant ground. The artist then scratches an image into this ground, exposing the metal. Immersing the plate in acid etches the design into the metal. The longer the plate stays in the acid, the deeper the lines. The plate is then inked, and the surface wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched lines. Finally, it’s pressed onto paper. Look closely, and you’ll see how the density of the etched lines creates the image's tonal range, from the darks of the trees on the left, to the light sky on the right. The linear quality gives the image a sense of immediacy, as if the artist sketched directly onto the plate. Yet the printmaking process has its own inherent mechanization, which ties this intimate scene to wider issues of labor and production. Recognizing the material and processes of this etching helps us see the artist's hand, as well as the larger social context of its making.