Begroeting tussen de schoolmeester en Peter Fix

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, a prolific Polish-German artist and director of the Berlin Academy of Arts, created this intimate etching *Begroeting tussen demeester en Peter Fix in 1783. Measuring just 100mm high by 63mm wide, the work exemplifies Chodowiecki's mastery small-scale printmaking, a medium he championed for its precision and affordability. Etching allowed him to render fine lines and textures with remarkable clarity, making his prints accessible to a wide audience during the Enlightenment era. The title, translating from Dutch as "Greeting between the Schoolmaster and Peter Fix," captures a seemingly ordinary social encounter that likely draws from moralistic literature or everyday life scenes popular in 18th-century Europe. Chodowiecki specialized in genre subjects like this, blending Rococo elegance with emerging realist tendencies to comment on education, class, and human interaction amid the rise of the bourgeoisie. This delicate piece bears a collector's mark on the verso (Lugt 2228), hinting at its esteemed provenance among print enthusiasts. Chodowiecki produced over 2,000 such works, influencing book illustrations and satire across Germany and beyond, preserving fleeting moments of 18th-century culture for posterity.

About the Artist

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...