Buste van onbekende man met dochter 1758 - 1808

Christina Chalon created this tiny etching of an unknown man and his daughter sometime in the late 18th century. Its modest scale speaks volumes about the printmaking process itself. Etching involves coating a metal plate with a waxy, acid-resistant substance, then drawing through it with a sharp needle to expose the metal. When the plate is immersed in acid, the drawn lines are "bitten" into the surface. The longer the plate soaks, the deeper and darker the lines become when printed. In this case, Chalon clearly wanted to capture the immediacy of a sketch. The image isn't highly detailed, but there is a sense of intimacy and warmth in the relationship between father and child. The very act of etching, with its reliance on the artist's hand and eye, brings us closer to Chalon's experience of the world. It reminds us that all art, even seemingly mass-produced prints, begins with the touch of a human being, and that is something precious.