Twee worstelende engelen c. 1615

Editor: Here we have "Two Wrestling Angels," a pencil drawing on toned paper made around 1615 by Gerard ter Borch the Elder, currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. It's an interesting, almost awkward, little scene. What do you see in this work? Curator: Immediately, I see the appeal in understanding this work through the lens of artistic labor. Consider the paper itself—toned, suggesting a scarcity of readily available pristine materials, hinting at resourcefulness. Look at the deliberate yet tentative pencil work, characteristic of a preliminary study, a practice crucial to the broader workshop production of art at the time. What might it have been a study for? Editor: Maybe for a larger painting? Something more polished? Curator: Precisely. And in thinking of the studio system and division of labor inherent, where does the “art” truly reside? In the final commissioned piece, celebrated for its finish? Or in this very sketch, imbued with the artist's initial vision and the materiality of the process? The wrestling cherubs suggest a tension – between creation and the market, perhaps? The materials used here challenge that clean high/low art division. What sort of conversation does that start, do you think? Editor: That's a really interesting point. I guess I never thought about the labor and materials as being so central to the *meaning* of the work. Curator: They ARE central. Remember, art doesn't spring from thin air. It is physically *made*. Considering its social context allows us to connect seemingly disparate threads – the artist, the workshop, and even us, the consumers of this historical artifact. What was meant to be seen and not seen? Editor: This makes me want to look at all sketches differently now, paying closer attention to not just what's depicted, but *how* it was made and who was involved. Thanks for the insight!