1791
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
What is the Way to be Happy? is a 1791 ink by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows a crowded lecture hall with a teacher at a desk in the center, gesturing while speaking. Below him, people sit at tables taking notes, while others stand or walk around. At the front, a man with a cane leans on a chair, and a group of nobles in fancy clothes watches from the side. Above the teacher, a banner reads German text about the "right way" to behave. The scene feels like a mix of school and social life, with different classes interacting. The artist used fine lines to show details, like the folds in clothing and the expressions on faces. Next, look up etching to see how artists like this made prints with needles.
Daniel Niklaus Chodowiecki (16 October 1726 – 7 February 1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Huguenot and Polish ancestry, who is most famous as an etcher.
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