Twee jongens trekken een schaap voort, van achteren Possibly 1651

Editor: So, this is "Two Boys Leading a Sheep from Behind" by Harmen ter Borch, likely from 1651. It’s a pencil drawing. It's really quite simple in its composition. What do you see in it? Curator: I see a commentary on labor, on power dynamics. Consider the Dutch Golden Age—a time of immense economic growth built on colonial exploitation and trade. Children are often rendered innocently in art. But how innocent is this scene really? Who benefits from this labor? Editor: That's interesting. I just saw kids with a sheep! What makes you think about exploitation? Curator: Ter Borch was from a wealthy family; his gaze may not be innocent, nor ignorant. Notice how the boys' faces are obscured. This renders them anonymous, interchangeable perhaps. The sheep is central, the focus of their activity. How might we see the sheep as representing a commodity or even a colony? And these children, unwittingly complicit in the economic system? Editor: So you're suggesting that even in a simple genre scene like this, there are potentially hidden critiques of Dutch society? Curator: Precisely! And not just critique, but perhaps an acceptance, or at least an acknowledgement, of the deeply embedded social structures of labor in the 17th Century Dutch Republic. It asks us to look at seemingly mundane aspects of everyday life to discover the underlying politics. Is it really just kids with a sheep? Or is it about forced servitude? Is it about land ownership? Editor: I never would have thought to look at it that way. It’s amazing how much context can change a simple image. Curator: Exactly! It makes you reconsider the positionality of artist within the society and think about agency of his subjects. That is something I am taking away today. Thanks for bringing your open mind.