Fotoreproductie van het schilderij The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 door John Singleton Copley before 1881

Editor: This is a photographic reproduction, predating 1881, of John Singleton Copley's painting "The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781," presented as an etching in what appears to be an album. I’m struck by how this reproduction flattens the original, monumental oil painting into a grayscale image. What does the shift in medium and scale tell us? Curator: It tells us a great deal about access and dissemination in the pre-digital age. Think about the labor involved in creating both the original painting and this reproductive print. Copley, of course, was aiming at history painting, a prestigious genre demanding extensive resources, from pigments to models. This reproductive print, made using photography and etching, becomes a commodity. Consider the skilled labor of the etcher; How does their work mediate our understanding of Copley’s original vision? Editor: So, the etching democratizes the image but also filters it through another set of skills and materials. It is like a copy of a copy. Curator: Precisely. The reproduction transforms the artwork. It’s removed from the unique, handmade object to something that can be mass-produced. What do you think that shift does to its value as a historical artifact or a work of art? What kind of consumer would seek out this photograph? Editor: I suppose this allows a wider audience to engage with a significant historical moment, although removed from the scale and grandeur of the original. Someone who may not have access to galleries, would have bought it to collect historical images. I had never considered the commodification of history this way before. Thanks for clarifying this! Curator: Exactly. And hopefully, you'll start to notice that labor, consumption, and accessibility underpin our understanding of this historical work.