Pair of Lace-Up Shoes c. 1930 - 1950

Curator: Oh, these are calling to me, immediately! What’s the story behind these darlings? They look like they could step right into a noir film, all shadowy elegance… Editor: These, my friend, are a photograph titled "Pair of Lace-Up Shoes," dating from roughly 1930 to 1950, created by A. van Goethem and held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Curator: The texture, almost reptilian, evokes such a strong sense of style, almost defiant...Do you think someone actually wore these, pounded the pavements in them? Editor: Absolutely. What I see here is not simply a photograph of shoes but a meditation on wear, on history etched into material culture. Think of the social stratification embedded even in something as 'simple' as footwear, and how those distinctions are gendered and classed. These likely represented a certain upward mobility, aspiration. Curator: You see politics in a pair of shoes! I just see delicious design, pure form… But, alright, tell me more… I am intrigued by this reading… Editor: Consider the shift during this period. After the visible extravagance of the Roaring Twenties, there was still elegance, but tempered by austerity. These shoes seem to occupy that tension—a hint of extravagance but with a clear nod to practicality. Van Goethem seems aware of these codes and consciously utilizes the visual rhetoric. The shine almost reads like a gloss on privilege. Curator: Privilege...yes, you have a point! Perhaps the shoes mirror a larger story—the rise of certain classes after periods of upheaval? I feel like I am seeing not just shoes but... a character study! A real glimpse into another era's values... Editor: Precisely! Still life can often do that; make us reflect on bigger things through the tiny details. I mean, what narratives do we now construct through our own attire, and how are we judged by those constructions? Food for thought, indeed. Curator: Food for thought indeed! My darling shoes; it’s been quite the reverie. Editor: Glad we could unravel some sartorial semiotics, as they say! A great object to deconstruct.