Kalamazoo, Michigan.- The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is pleased to present “Shimmerings of Light, Mysteries of Shadow: The Etching Revival of the 19th Century”, an exhibition of approximately thirty prints, now on view at the Institute.. Etching, the process of drawing on and printing from copper plates, emerged as an important art form in the 17th century. During this period, it reached its pinnacle in the works of Rembrandt, who exploited the medium’s expressive possibilities to an unprecedented degree. Yet etching subsequently fell into decline as the Academies, with their strict adherence to the principles of Classical art, came to dominate the artistic life of Europe. By the1850s younger artists were rebelling against this tradition as they sought more personal forms of expression. They discovered that etching was ideally suited to capture the moods and textures of contemporary landscapes, both urban and rural. Drawing directly from nature rather than in the studio, etchers were the forefront of the dramatic changes that came to define 19th-century art.