Jongen met schoen en roede 1887 - 1916

This lithograph, entitled 'Boy with Shoe and Rod', was made by Willem Pothast, likely in the early 20th century. The lithographic process itself is critical here; it involves drawing on a stone or metal plate with a greasy crayon, then treating the surface so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas. The resulting print has a distinctive, somewhat soft quality, and it's this that gives the scene its intimate feel. We see a boy, perhaps misbehaving with a shoe and rod, while his mother reads, seemingly unperturbed. The fineness of the lithographic line allows for great detail: look at the mantlepiece, the mother’s clothing, the expression on the boy's face. This level of detail would have required considerable skill and time, although the printmaking process does allow for multiples to be made. That makes one think about the social context here: a middle-class interior, a moment of domestic life captured and made available for wider consumption. The print straddles the line between a precious, unique artwork and a more widely accessible commodity. It invites us to consider not just what is depicted, but how the very act of making informs its meaning.