Albumblad met diverse voorstellingen 1814 - 1869

Curator: Before us is an album page from a sketchbook by Alexander Cranendoncq, made sometime between 1814 and 1869. It’s a fascinating assortment of drawings using pen, pencil, and watercolor. Editor: It's incredibly charming. The entire sheet feels like a meticulously arranged collage, filled with the ephemera of daily life. The limited palette lends it a lovely, muted elegance. Curator: Indeed. These types of album pages became quite popular in the early to mid-19th century as displays of artistic skill but also reflections of the social life and cultural interests of the artist. You see here snippets of landscapes, genre scenes, portraits almost like collecting favorite images. Editor: The artist has a clear skill for capturing light and shadow. Look at the goat—the textures of its coat are really engaging. The scenes are so delicately rendered with close attention to perspective, a real delight. Curator: The subjects selected really show us what would appeal to someone of the time, highlighting both rural life and fashionable society. Sketches of carriages alongside what looks to be indoor domestic scenes, childhood activities such as playing with a bow and arrow, kite, rocking horse…it's a visual catalogue of the era’s key values. Editor: It's a curious mix, the ordinary and the elegant… I am thinking particularly of the ladies with their frills. They evoke an odd balance that gives everything here, even the landscapes, an emotional depth. Curator: I think these sketchbook leaves speak to a growing culture of self-documentation in art making. Artists like Cranendoncq created these to practice their skill, yes, but it’s very possible that they also shared them with others and kept them as mementos to circulate among a social circle. Editor: I’m struck by the quiet, contained narratives playing out on this single page. It’s amazing how much character the artist has given to each person in the various scenes given their tiny scale and limited range of materials. It truly embodies the intimacy one expects in a sketchbook, but raised to another level of skill and purpose.