Venster met gordijnen c. 1895 - 1910

Curator: Isn't this captivating? We're looking at a print called "Venster met gordijnen," or "Window with Curtains," attributed to Léon Laroche, likely created between 1895 and 1910. Editor: Mmm, yes. A delicate moment, captured so elegantly. It feels… staged. A set design waiting for its players to enter. Is this really meant to be Neoclassical? Curator: Well, it presents elements of Neoclassicism. It emphasizes a controlled and symmetrical representation of decorative arts during the period and its aesthetic principles. The composition and line work point to that. However, one has to consider these images had a purpose, namely documentation and possibly also marketing. Editor: Marketing! Right! So, it’s a kind of advertisement, almost. Like, "Behold, how stunning YOUR windows COULD be!" And this staging... I can’t help but imagine the lives framed by that very window. Who chose these fabrics? Curator: The "who" is where things get interesting. These weren't mass-produced. They represent an upper-class desire for particular domestic displays and consumer habits from a particular class perspective, if we really want to delve into social-historical details, something also made possible by increasingly powerful tools of reproduction. Editor: Reproduction allowing for a decorative-arts catalogue. I get it. But the effect, it's not entirely successful. The lines, while precise, also feel… stiff. Impersonal. Curator: Consider it from the perspective of its original function; as a reproducible print with aspirations for documentation and possibly wider circulation, its linearity serves practicality. But I see what you mean. The intention wasn't necessarily emotional expression as we expect it today. Editor: True, true. Perhaps I’m being unfair, judging it by modern standards. Still, the muted palette… it almost feels like a memory, doesn't it? Or maybe a premonition of times, now lost. Anyway, looking at those perfectly placed tassels does gives me chills. A different kind of domestic space. What would be exposed to such window...? Curator: Perhaps, that’s its genius, isn’t it? Leaving so much unsaid. Making us consider what lies within – or without. Thank you for opening the window into our imaginations.