Bacchanaal met vijf putti 1687 - 1708

Editor: Here we have "Bacchanaal met vijf putti," made between 1687 and 1708 by Pieter van der Plas II. It’s an etching, so a print. It feels quite lighthearted. I'm intrigued by how much detail he managed to achieve. What jumps out at you? Curator: For me, the interest lies in the materiality of printmaking itself. Consider the process: the artist meticulously incising lines into a metal plate, building up the image layer by layer. Each line is a physical act, demanding skilled labor and precise control of the medium. Editor: Yes, it looks like hard work. Curator: Absolutely. Think of this not just as an image, but as a commodity produced for a market. Who was buying these prints? What did it mean to own a reproduction of a scene like this in the 17th and 18th centuries? Also, consider the accessibility of this image due to its medium. Did prints democratize art consumption, and how would this undermine social stratification? Editor: That’s a great point. Because it is a reproduction, perhaps its material value wasn't regarded as 'art', with the etching seen as a craft... It challenges my perception of it as ‘high art’. Curator: Exactly! It forces us to question those distinctions and to consider the social and economic forces that shape artistic value. Editor: I’ve certainly never thought of it that way. Seeing art in relation to industry, that’s an approach I can take with me to other pieces.