Voorovergebogen aardappelrooister met een mand en zak 1886 - 1906

Willem Witsen made this print of an agricultural worker, its title translates as “Bent over potato harvester with a basket and bag”. Witsen made this image with etching, a printmaking technique where acid is used to corrode a metal printing plate, to create the design. The fine lines in this image are made possible through this process of using a sharp needle to draw an image, revealing the bare metal, and then applying acid to bite into the metal, resulting in incised lines. Here, Witsen directs our attention to the cyclical processes of agriculture. Potatoes must be harvested, and their collection requires human labor. In this instance, the stooped body of the worker contrasts with the industrializing world. The labor that underpins so much of society, which here involves the cultivation of the land and production of food, often goes unnoticed. Through printmaking, Witsen calls our attention to the material conditions of production, reminding us that art, like agriculture, is the product of human activity.