The Coppersmiths
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 22.1 × 21.7 cm (8 3/4 × 8 9/16 in.); Plate: 22.5 × 22 cm (8 7/8 × 8 11/16 in.); Sheet: 24.4 × 22.7 cm (9 5/8 × 8 15/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
11772
Art Historical Context
**The Coppersmiths**1900) by Donald MacLaughlan captures the rhythmic intensity of traditional craftsmanship in a masterful etching on cream laid paper. Measuring about 8¾ × 8½ inches, this intimate print from the Art Institute of Chicago Prints and Drawings collection showcases MacLaughlan's skill in rendering everyday labor with exquisite detail. As a prominent Canadian-American etcher active in Paris and Europe, he drew inspiration from vanishing artisanal trades, evoking a sense of nostalgia amid rapid industrialization at the fin de siècle. Etching, MacLaughlan's favored medium, involves...
About the Artist
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan (1876–1938) was born on November 9 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, though he is recognized as an American artist after his family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. There, as a teenager, he immersed himself in the Boston Public Library's collections of old master prints, studying works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and eighteenth-century E...