Figuren op en naast een afgemeerde driemaster 1797 - 1838

Curator: Looking at this pencil drawing entitled "Figuren op en naast een afgemeerde driemaster," or "Figures on and Next to a Moored Three-Master" by Johannes Christiaan Schotel, created between 1797 and 1838, I am struck by the evocative nautical symbols, aren't you? Editor: Initially, I perceive a certain skeletal quality—almost as if I am witnessing the bones of a ship revealed through delicate lines, starkly juxtaposed on these notebook pages. Curator: The spars and rigging seem to articulate an era of great Dutch maritime power, that echoes across historical periods, doesn't it? It brings up archetypes of journey and empire... Editor: Absolutely. Yet, that's precisely what invites critical examination. Beyond symbols of Dutch prowess on the seas, what human narratives were constructed or erased in that historical period, and how does art reproduce, resist, or question that era’s legacies? Curator: The placement of the figures near the ship allows us to consider their roles as conduits of commerce and connection. It’s almost as if the image presents this kind of meeting point. The image certainly seems to embrace archetypal meanings… Editor: Perhaps, but consider who is represented and who is conspicuously absent in Schotel’s vision of the harbor? The laborers? Enslaved persons? How does their silence impact the meanings conveyed by the composition, which is far from neutral. Curator: While the social elements may be implied, the dominant artistic approach is clearly to invite an immersion into the detailed complexity of naval technology, echoing symbols from voyages, both longed for and actually realised… Editor: Well, those absences reveal power dynamics and inequalities shaping port communities. I find it imperative we grapple with those realities alongside admiring artistic or historical detail. This encourages a thorough engagement with an object like this… Curator: I can see your point. Still, I would hope audiences take away the lasting impression of transformation and journeys embedded within its intricate symbols. Editor: And I believe interrogating history’s unacknowledged realities ensures a more just and nuanced interpretation. Hopefully it all offers everyone more points to discuss about this object from Rijksmuseum!