Et gammelt hus 1853 - 1942

Editor: This etching, "Et gammelt hus" by G.V. Blom, seems to depict a quaint old house in a cityscape. I am intrigued by how detailed it is, especially for what looks like a mass-produced print. What's your take? Curator: What stands out to me is how Blom is employing the traditionally ‘high art’ medium of etching to represent something so commonplace—a regular, old house. He's choosing a subject rooted in the everyday experience of people. Doesn't it make you wonder who might have bought this print, and why they would have chosen to hang this on their wall? Was it about nostalgia, maybe, for simpler times or perhaps about finding beauty in the mundane aspects of modern life? Editor: That's an interesting point! I never thought about how the choice of subject might democratize art, bringing it closer to everyday life. Is there anything special about etching that makes it more 'mass-produced' versus, say, another drawing technique? Curator: Absolutely. Etching, as a printmaking technique, allowed for multiple, near-identical copies. This dramatically altered the consumption of images; they weren't unique items anymore, crafted for an individual patron, but items sold to the masses. Considering the labor involved, this kind of reproducibility shifts the social context in which art is experienced, moving it from exclusive collections to potentially broader social circulation. It speaks volumes about how technologies shape taste. Editor: I never really thought of prints as products, but more as a type of drawing. I now have more understanding of art in everyday life. Curator: It’s about thinking about who is making this, what their working conditions may be, and the means of circulating these prints. Always return to labor, material and their wider economies to better see an artwork in all its dimensions.