Bloemen, Tab. 2 1751 - 1822

Curator: Welcome. Today we're exploring "Bloemen, Tab. 2" by Noach van der Meer II, created sometime between 1751 and 1822. It's a drawing, print, and engraving using ink, and is currently held at the Rijksmuseum. What are your first thoughts? Editor: It's like a botanical autopsy! A beautifully precise, slightly unnerving, display of floral anatomy laid bare. Like a guide for alien botanists visiting Earth. There's something a little austere about its scientific detachment. Curator: Absolutely, there is a sense of detached observation, very much within the style of academic art and realism that permeated the era. The focus is purely on form. Note the use of line, the clear pen work in creating this piece; how does that contribute, do you think? Editor: The line work lends a certain weight and importance to what might otherwise be considered a gentle, whimsical subject. It transforms the flower into a structure, almost architectural in its careful articulation. And also the variations in line, giving us depth and dimension when its mostly a monochrome study. Curator: The precision reminds us of the importance of botany in that time; the detailed depictions speak to the broader project of cataloging and understanding the natural world through empirical observation, informing fields from medicine to trade. There’s an inherent order to its form as well, don’t you think? Editor: Order definitely, it's so methodical. Each part labelled like some kind of instruction manual for creating life! I feel that these are flowers for a rationalist's garden. No space for whimsy or irregularity! It seems to strip them of any inherent romance, while bestowing such presence by meticulous capturing its physical characteristics. Curator: That makes me think of our current cultural relationship to nature and image; still dissecting, documenting, labeling. Perhaps this 18th century work reveals something of a continuous approach in our understanding through representation? Editor: Yes, a timeless ambition! Perhaps the slight unease it evokes is a consequence of recognising our ongoing quest to contain the wild, to bring order to what remains beautifully beyond definition. It is the core paradox of studying anything at all. Thank you, I needed that. Curator: And thank you. That has been a remarkable consideration.