Cat Playing with a Grass Snake c. 19th century

Editor: This is Karl Bodmer's "Cat Playing with a Grass Snake," a small but lively print. I'm really drawn to the texture he creates with the etching. What stands out to you? Curator: The image itself is less interesting to me than its production. Consider the labor involved in creating this etching, the materials: the metal plate, the acids, the paper. How does this production speak to broader issues of accessibility and consumption of art in Bodmer's time? Editor: That’s interesting, I never thought about it like that. The materials and their availability must have played a huge role. Curator: Exactly. The act of making art is a material process embedded in its own historical and cultural context.