Charles Ruijs van Beerenbroek zoekt een burgemeester voor Rotterdam 1910 - 1935

Curator: Let's meander a bit through this curious piece. It's titled "Charles Ruijs van Beerenbroek looking for a mayor for Rotterdam," sketched sometime between 1910 and 1935 by Patricq Kroon, rendered in pen and ink. The perspective… the fellow emerging between what looks like fence posts or even gateposts, feels slightly conspiratorial. Editor: Right, it has that "caught-in-the-act" energy. The somewhat compressed staging, combined with the exaggerated expression and use of shadow, lends the piece an odd theatrical mood. What is your reading of his purpose? Curator: Oh, purpose! It's dripping with satire, wouldn’t you agree? The way Kroon frames the figure with these posts – labeled with cryptic initials - feels like he’s walking between factions or failed regimes to arrive “in Rotterdam.” It seems this Beerenbroek is on a very political, very anxious and maybe doomed mission. Doesn't it hint at something larger and even slightly ridiculous, behind the pomp and circumstance of political appointments? Editor: I think so! It feels like political commentary disguised as character study. Are the initials on those posts supposed to be organizations he might be looking between? Curator: Perhaps even caricatures! Now that you say it... it all creates the image of a personage navigating options presented for his favor or his service to them, do you see what I see? Editor: That’s an insightful interpretation I never considered. The sketch suddenly feels even more politically astute. It has multiple layers. Curator: Doesn't it? Political cartoons often capture a brief glimpse into the culture, but this, like much compelling art, manages to retain complexity and resonate across the decades, doesn’t it?