Olivia and Viola n.d.

Curator: This is "Olivia and Viola," an engraving by William Hamilton. It is currently held here at The Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: It feels theatrical, almost like a freeze-frame from a play, full of contained drama. And that lighting, like a spotlight on a very odd apparition. Curator: Well, Hamilton's work often drew inspiration from literary sources, particularly Shakespeare. "Olivia and Viola" captures a scene from "Twelfth Night," and speaks to a broader trend of narrative-based prints that served a growing market of playgoers, but also a culture where access to books wasn't as common. So these images disseminated stories broadly. Editor: Makes sense! The architecture feels very stage-like, classical pillars as artifice. I like that this one little ball at the bottom that seems outside the dramatic gesture of the characters. Curator: Engravings like this were mass-produced using copper plates, allowing for wider distribution of images. The labor involved, from the initial drawing to the etching and printing, involved workshops and hierarchies of skilled artisans and unskilled assistants contributing to different production processes. Hamilton's work can be seen as a product of both artistic ingenuity and industrialization, as consumer demand impacted what subjects were selected for the prints and engravings that were reproduced for distribution. Editor: The detail is incredible given that. It is easy to imagine how the contrast in black and white also highlights, and exaggerates, the play with concealment in the plot; the woman under the veil in such bright focus, while other is half covered by a very ornate hat... You can tell there is some complex thing being depicted even if you didn't know the story! Curator: Absolutely. Prints became crucial tools not only for popularizing theater and narratives but also for shaping social tastes, documenting the past, or propagating ideas and influencing political views. Editor: I'd have never known this image comes directly out of those conditions. To think that just an engraving had so much relevance and cultural force! It's inspiring to look beyond the surface.