Schuren met schapen 1876 - 1915

This print, "Schuren met schapen," or "Barns with Sheep" was created by Sophie Christina van den Wall Bake, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century, using a technique called etching. The image shows a rural scene, complete with grazing animals. The material qualities of the print – its fine lines and delicate shading – depend entirely on the artist's skilled manipulation of metal and acid. She would have coated a metal plate with a waxy ground, then drawn through it with a needle to expose the metal. Immersing the plate in acid would then bite away the exposed lines, creating grooves to hold ink. This process, though technical, allows for a remarkable degree of detail. Notice how the texture of the thatched roofs and the rough bark of the tree are meticulously rendered. Van den Wall Bake's choice of subject matter, combined with her mastery of the etching process, elevates a humble scene of rural life into a work of art. It reminds us that beauty and meaning can be found in the everyday, and that the skill of the artist lies in their ability to reveal it to us.