Koe en een kalf in een weiland 1854

Abraham Hendrik Winter made this etching, “Cow and Calf in a Meadow,” in the first half of the 19th century. Etching is an indirect method of engraving, achieved by biting lines into a metal plate with acid. Winter carefully controlled this corrosive process, and the image rewards close looking. Notice how he uses a range of marks, from fine hatching to deeper gouges, to create both the dark shadows and the lighter planes of the cows’ bodies. He also pays acute attention to the meadow setting, with its thicket of plants and grazing companion. Winter made many such prints, which were sold to a growing middle class. They represent an important shift in the social status of art, no longer just the preserve of the wealthy. The reproductive medium of etching democratized the image, transforming the very nature of artmaking. It's a process dependent on skilled labor, and yet also a forerunner of later industrial production.