Niels Klim kryber ind i hulen 1786 - 1789

Curator: This ink and charcoal drawing is titled "Niels Klim kryber ind i hulen" – "Niels Klim Crawling into the Cave". It was created between 1786 and 1789 by Nicolai Abildgaard. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the dynamism of the composition. The monochromatic palette lends a somber, almost urgent mood, while the use of stark contrasts directs the viewer's eye right to the action. Curator: The drawing depicts a scene from Ludvig Holberg's novel, "Niels Klim's Underground Travels," published in 1741. Holberg was writing during the Enlightenment. The book offers a satire of absolute monarchy and critiques social hierarchies, imagining alternative social systems beneath the Earth's surface. This narrative served as fodder for progressive political imaginings. Editor: Yes, I appreciate your locating the piece in a rich social matrix. The piece presents such intriguing tensions between darkness and light, interiority and exteriority, which could speak, aesthetically, to the larger ideological battles between reason and superstition in the era. Looking closer, I am intrigued by the very specific technique with dramatic dark hues to pull you in as a viewer; it contrasts to what appears to be Klim in relative bright coloring as he enters what looks like a cavern. Curator: Exactly! It’s a physical and intellectual descent. Note how Abildgaard used contrasting lines to create the tension that this fictional narrative inspires in the reader. What he's saying about social transformation—crawling into it blindly without guarantees or assurances—is quite thought-provoking. Editor: I do see this mirroring now with what you say on social hierarchies, it may imply as viewers we are crawling into them, but may still do it, to get the best of what they have. It will definitely create quite a conversation and a statement! The romanticist use of style may appeal to viewers of our current generation who want change, but not a revolt against their perceived privileges. Thank you for walking me through that conversation. Curator: My pleasure! Art history invites us to engage critically with our own positions and to strive for something different from the old structures of power, to be sure.