Spring
Medium
Etching on off white laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 25 × 18.2 cm (9 7/8 × 7 3/16 in.); Sheet: 25.5 × 18.6 cm (10 1/16 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
53506
Art Historical Context
Wenceslaus Hollar's *Spring* (1641) is a delicate etching on off-white laid paper, measuring about 10 by 7 inches. Captured during Hollar's early years in England—after fleeing the Thirty Years' War in his native Bohemia—this print exemplifies the artist's extraordinary skill in rendering fine details through intricate line work. Hollar, a master printmaker who produced over 2, etchings in his lifetime, brought a sense of vitality and precision to everyday scenes, making art accessible beyond oil paintings. Etching, Hollar's preferred medium, involved drawing lines into a wax-coated copper pl...
About the Artist
Wenceslaus Hollar · 1607–1677
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) was a prolific Bohemian etcher who became one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century. Born in Prague, he trained under Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt before entering the service of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in 1636. Hollar spent most of his career in England, where he produced approximately 2,740 etchings documenting an extraordinary range...