Opening van de nieuwe Beurs te Amsterdam 1845 1845

Editor: Here we have a metal relief sculpture entitled "Opening van de nieuwe Beurs te Amsterdam 1845," created by David van der Kellen. It's…a commemorative coin, almost, depicting the Amsterdam stock exchange. It feels very official, very…institutional. How do you interpret this work, particularly in relation to the Neoclassical style? Curator: It's easy to see the Neoclassical elements in the building’s design—the columns, the symmetry. But I think we need to look beyond just the aesthetic. Neoclassicism was often used to evoke ideas of stability, order, and civic virtue. Given that this coin commemorates the opening of the stock exchange, consider what message they wanted to convey. What social class benefits from order? What happens if economic institutions fail to represent their needs? Editor: So it’s not just about the style; it's about what that style represented and who it served. I hadn’t really thought about it like that before. The Neoclassical style is intentionally chosen as the architecture of wealth because the straight columns of neoclassical architecture were supposed to imply… financial uprightness? Curator: Precisely. This coin, with its stoic representation of commerce, masks the inherent instability and inequality within capitalist systems. Who got to participate in that "handel?" What narratives were intentionally left out? This "stability" rests on a lot of unseen power dynamics, doesn't it? Editor: Yes, absolutely. The style almost sanitizes what can be a very messy and exploitative reality. Now I see how crucial it is to analyze not just what is shown, but also what is deliberately concealed. I appreciate the challenge! Curator: And remember, asking those difficult questions, the ones art encourages, are where real change begins. Thanks for sharing that journey with me!