Landscape with Sleeping Woman 1649 - 1703

Editor: So, this is "Landscape with Sleeping Woman" painted by Eglon van der Neer between 1649 and 1703. It's currently held at the SMK. The black and white is quite striking. How do you read the relationship between the figures and the landscape in terms of gender roles? Curator: Well, on first impression, I find myself thinking about the construction of femininity in relation to nature within the historical context of the 17th century. Is this Eden? Whose gaze are we adopting here? Editor: Interesting question. Whose gaze indeed? What does the presence of two female figures, one asleep and the other standing, tell us? Curator: Right. The sleeping woman is vulnerable, exposed. And that other one looks less a figure, but rather the emanation of Nature herself, watching us – or is it watching over her fellow woman? This contrast raises questions about power, vulnerability, and the ways women's bodies are often depicted, both passively and actively, within natural settings. Considering feminist interpretations, how might we challenge the historical tendency to frame women solely as objects of the male gaze? Editor: That resonates with me, but the almost monochromatic tone feels almost desexualizing. Curator: The monochrome is indeed intriguing. In some ways it softens the tension you mention, depersonalizing both figures. The stark tones serve to abstract the figures from lived experience. What do you think the absence of color communicates in terms of social narratives prevalent at the time? Editor: I see how that might be. Perhaps this monochrome technique suggests a certain flattening of identity. It invites us to question the ways gender and identity were being conceptualized in relation to broader society and the very fabric of reality itself during that historical moment. Curator: Precisely. This makes me reflect upon how contemporary art continues to engage with similar themes around gender and environmentalism. Editor: Thinking about these issues certainly opens a whole new perspective on this painting for me. Curator: Likewise! Thank you for bringing this vital new understanding to the foreground.