Twee angorakonijnen 1898

Theo van Hoytema created this lithograph of Angora rabbits, rendered in delicate shades of gray, sometime in his lifetime (1863-1917). Lithography is a printmaking process that relies on the resistance between grease and water. An image is drawn on a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy crayon, then treated with chemicals so that only the drawn areas attract ink. The process is repeated for each color, building up a final image through layers of ink. The soft, almost photorealistic quality of the rabbits' fur is made possible by the fine-grained nature of the lithographic stone, and the artist's skilled manipulation of the crayon. Hoytema must have spent considerable time studying these creatures to capture their likeness with such fidelity. This print invites us to consider the labor and skill involved in its making, and to appreciate the subtle beauty of these creatures that were likely raised for the fashion industry, tying their material, Angora, to wider social issues of consumption.