Jomfruland Lilypond 

Editor: Here we have Theodor Severin Kittelsen's "Jomfruland Lilypond." It seems to be rendered with multiple media – ink, watercolor, pastel, and pencil on paper – to create this stunning, monochromatic drawing. It has such a still, quiet, almost melancholic atmosphere. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Indeed, there’s a somber beauty here. Beyond the lily pads themselves, consider the lily as a symbol, heavily laden throughout history. What feelings or ideas come to mind when you think of lilies? Editor: Purity? Funerals? Something about their fleeting beauty… Curator: Precisely. Their connection to both innocence and mourning is potent. Think of Ophelia, from Hamlet, often depicted surrounded by these flowers – innocence lost, a tragic, watery end. And here, the almost ghostly palette enhances that association. Notice how the artist uses the absence of bright color. Do you think it mutes or amplifies that funereal symbolism? Editor: I think it deepens the melancholy and sense of fading. But doesn't the “lily pond” also evoke the idea of something cyclical, natural… regrowth? Curator: An excellent point. Consider also how the lily pond is situated, perhaps not as a final resting place, but a space of reflection, transition. What if these are not ending, but seeds waiting for spring? Perhaps the darkness suggests a necessary period of rest. A pause, filled with possibility. What do you make of that? Editor: I like the idea of seeing the lilies as expectant rather than mournful – holding a possibility. The pond as a site of hidden potential feels right given how present nature is in Kittelsen’s work. Curator: A fascinating, generative discussion. Seeing those multiple layers adds greatly to my appreciation for Kittelsen.