Woman Walking with an Umbrella 

Jean-Louis Forain captured this Woman Walking with an Umbrella through etching, a printmaking process involving metal, acid, and a lot of skill. The effect here relies on labor intensive and time-honored methods of manual production. The artist would have applied a waxy ground to a metal plate, then scratched away lines to expose the metal. Immersed in acid, these lines would be eaten away, creating grooves to hold ink. When printed, this would create the image we see. Look at the sheer amount of work involved; the thousands of tiny lines that give the picture its hazy atmosphere. This speaks to the social context of the work. Etching was a popular medium at the time for a reason. It allowed artists to produce multiples, making art more accessible. This piece beautifully demonstrates how materials, processes, and social context intertwine to give an artwork its full meaning, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.