Wit paard bij een voerbak voor een boerderij 1842

This is a landscape etching, made by Hendrik Jozef Franciscus van der Poorten. The image has been created by incising lines into a metal plate, inking it, and then using a press to transfer the ink onto paper. The fine lines and subtle tonal variations suggest van der Poorten used a technique known as etching, where the plate is covered with a waxy ground, the design scratched through it, and then acid is used to bite the exposed metal. This process gives the artist a great deal of control over the image, allowing for intricate detail. The subject is a rural scene, depicting a white horse by a feeder near a farmhouse, and gives insight into the agrarian life of the time. Van der Poorten's skilled use of line and tone brings out the texture of the thatched roof and the rough, worn surfaces of the wooden structures. By focusing on the labor and materials of rural life, van der Poorten elevates the everyday, reminding us of the value and beauty found in the simplest of things.