Menukaart met onderwijzers en leerlingen 1878 - 1917

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to Theo van Hoytema’s "Menukaart met onderwijzers en leerlingen," likely created between 1878 and 1917, housed here at the Rijksmuseum. It's a pen and ink drawing, a fairly quick sketch it appears. What’s your immediate response? Editor: I find it incredibly whimsical! There’s a sense of contained chaos. The rough sketch style, combined with the peculiar subject matter of teachers and pupils seemingly enacting a "menu," it's rather unusual, don’t you think? Curator: Absolutely. The menu concept itself alludes to the educational systems of the time. Observe the figures struggling to support a tablet labelled "Monitorial System.” Bell and Lancaster, referenced at the base, were pioneers of the monitorial system of education that relies on older students teaching the younger students what they learned from a teacher. Editor: Ah, that explains that peculiar weight they're hoisting! This monitorial method itself seems a metaphor for hierarchy and the weight of pedagogy. I note the color use is restrained: the hint of pale blue on the master educator's coat and letters; it isolates him from the sketch's otherwise monochromatic, almost newspaper-like quality. Curator: Precisely, the colour is strategically placed. The limited palette directs the gaze but it also underscores his authoritative role through contrast. Also the sketch's lines, almost frenetic in nature, and quick hatching really convey the impression of an idea swiftly captured. It reads almost like storyboard work or initial notes for something larger. Editor: Indeed. Consider the dangling blackboards held aloft in mid-air. These feel almost surreal, floating in an otherwise earth-bound narrative about teaching. Also there seems to be a lack of any cohesive perspective, further enhancing that dream-like effect. Curator: Agreed, there is no perspectival orthodoxy applied. And to analyze from a social history perspective, these visual liberties maybe reflect the more broadly liberal turn the Dutch education system underwent in that era with influences by thinkers like Rousseau. Editor: The materiality of a sketch adds a dimension, too. There's an immediacy lost when an idea gets refined. One sees how fast van Hoytema's thinking flowed. I like to think the freedom offered by the pen allowed van Hoytema’s fancy free range. Curator: It does give us direct access to his thought processes. "Menukaart met onderwijzers en leerlingen," reveals not only the aesthetic of the time but also hints at the deeper societal reflections through visual metaphor. Editor: A truly playful encapsulation of pedagogy then and perhaps now as well, making one wonder who crafts the menus of our knowledge and who bears their weight today.