Spar in sneeuwlandschap 1900

Curator: This is Simon Moulijn's "Fir Tree in Snowy Landscape," created around 1900. It's an etching, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Ooh, it feels... cold. I immediately think of trudging through knee-deep snow. The stark black and white only adds to the chill. Curator: The etching process is key to achieving that effect. Think about the labour involved. The artist uses a needle to draw into a wax-covered metal plate, which is then bathed in acid to create the lines. Multiple stages of acid biting would be required to create these varying tones, making it both labour intensive and materially significant. Editor: It's incredible the detail he got with just lines. Look at the way the snow clings to the branches, so heavy it almost looks like it's weeping. It's both beautiful and slightly melancholic, like nature is hunkering down for a long sleep. There's this tiny cabin lurking in the background there too. You can imagine a single flickering light. It brings such an element of safety in such stark cold. Curator: I agree, the interplay between shelter and the vast wilderness speaks volumes about human interaction with the environment during that period. Etchings, being prints, are also about dissemination. Consider who might have purchased this; perhaps someone with a desire to experience nature and reflect upon rural labour. Editor: That makes so much sense; it has that feeling of something small yet profoundly human in the face of something enormous, timeless. Makes me wanna find some woolen socks and curl up with some hot cocoa. Curator: And the beauty lies, I think, in understanding that sentiment through the lens of its material production and distribution. This understanding lets us better appreciate not just what we are seeing but the processes behind how images shape our experience of the world. Editor: Right! And in some weird way, thinking about how it was made gives even more power to the little bit of human heart I read there. Thanks.