Dandies en twee vrouwen maken toilet voor het bal Possibly 1819

Editor: This etching, titled "Dandies en twee vrouwen maken toilet voor het bal," which roughly translates to "Dandies and two women preparing for the ball," is thought to be from around 1819. It's currently held in the Rijksmuseum and is by an anonymous artist. I'm immediately struck by the humorous exaggeration in the figures – their bodies are so distorted! What's your take on it? Curator: Indeed, it's a delightful skewering of early 19th-century fashion and social rituals. Look closely: each exaggerated posture tells a story of vanity and excess. I imagine the artist felt amused, maybe even irritated by these affected individuals. Doesn’t it remind you of trying on clothes with friends, the little pre-party rituals, the chaos, but magnified a hundredfold? What does the term "dandy" mean to you in the context of this image? Editor: I think "dandy" refers to men overly concerned with their appearance. And now I see the satire so clearly. It's almost as if the artist is laughing *at* them rather than *with* them. Curator: Precisely! The "Dandizettes", too. See how they are just as preoccupied with achieving an artificial standard? The scene teems with social commentary, packaged within genre painting elements. Plus, a fun fact: notice the framed artwork of what appear to be bullfighters engaged in combat... quite cheeky, don’t you think? Perhaps alluding to society’s ridiculous antics. Do you see Romanticism shining through in any of its attributes? Editor: I suppose the caricature style lends to that kind of "unrestrained" feeling? I didn't expect something like this to come out of Romanticism. It felt like the beginning of something like, say, social media, for its capacity to satirize. Curator: Exactly! It speaks volumes that so long ago someone observed something to make social commentary and share with a larger audience, using only lines etched into a plate, really amazing, isn't it? Editor: Totally! I came in thinking, ‘funny drawing,’ and now I see sharp commentary! Thanks!