Sycamore, from The Park and the Forest 1841

James Duffield Harding made this lithograph, "Sycamore," from a set titled "The Park and the Forest." Lithography is an essentially democratic medium. Instead of the arduous, highly skilled labor of carving into wood or metal, one simply draws on a stone with a greasy crayon. The image is then chemically fixed, and can be printed many times over. Harding was a master of this technique, and here he coaxes a full range of tonal effects from the stone. Note the velvety blacks in the foreground figures, balanced by the delicate rendering of the trees. Lithography democratized image-making, and allowed artists like Harding to reach a wide audience. Prints such as these brought the experience of nature to urban audiences, and shaped the popular taste for picturesque landscape. Ultimately, the making and consumption of lithographs reflect the wider social currents of labor, leisure, and the burgeoning culture industries.