Jean-Jean vecht met andere man, oudere soldaten grijpen in 1825 - 1829

Curator: I’m struck by the sheer energy emanating from this image. It feels so visceral, like a captured moment just before everything devolves into complete chaos. Editor: Indeed. What you are responding to is likely Auguste Raffet’s "Jean-Jean vecht met andere man, oudere soldaten grijpen in", which roughly translates to “Jean-Jean fights with another man, older soldiers intervene.” Raffet created this lithograph with pen and ink on paper sometime between 1825 and 1829. Look closely, and you'll note the ways he's rendered this very physical scene with careful detail. Curator: "Jean-Jean becomes bad tempered!"... So the subtitle says it all! There is an unceremonious upturning of furniture, discarded objects, what is happening here? I get a pub brawl kind of vibe. Editor: I agree. This Romantic-era piece depicts a genre scene with an evident narrative. You have the two figures wrestling near a broken table, clearly locked in combat. Then there are the older soldiers stepping in to try to restrain them. Note the emphasis on line and shadow, particularly in the rendering of the uniforms. And off to the right is an almost passive drinking scene. Curator: The Romanticism element is so interesting here. Instead of soaring landscapes or dramatic historical moments, we're given a mundane, even comical street fight. This makes me think about the lives of the working classes. Who were they drinking with, fighting for? It is like a raw look at everyday life through art. Editor: Exactly. The materiality is so evident, right? Pen and ink allows Raffet to capture details and to emphasize the labor in making. Further, by creating this as a lithograph, it points to wider accessibility, a move toward potentially a democratization of images, though the exact context of its consumption needs more historical investigation, in my view. Curator: Agreed. Still, there is something captivating in how a quick tavern dispute turns into art and has survived all this time for us to stare at it, isn’t it? This feels strangely...alive. Editor: Yes, capturing those fleeting moments makes the whole thing worth studying from production to the viewing here today!