Lezende man en boekverkoper bij een boekenstal c. 1938

Curator: The Rijksmuseum houses a simple yet evocative pencil drawing by Henk Henriët, created around 1938. It’s called "Lezende man en boekverkoper bij een boekenstal" – "Reading man and bookseller at a bookstall". Editor: It’s funny, my first reaction is how intensely serious these two chaps look. Like they’re engaged in some crucial transaction for the fate of humanity. A first edition perhaps? The sketchy lines add to the sense of quiet urgency, I think. Curator: Henriët was skilled at capturing everyday life. This scene, a staple in many cities, carries echoes of the past while resonating today. We have the bookstall owner and a potential buyer immersed in a literary moment. The act of reading...the power of books…these were considered potent tools in the past and, as many believe, remain so today. Editor: The bowler hat on the reading man makes me wonder about class distinctions. There’s also something quite poignant about it— the printed word held precious enough to examine right there, come rain or shine, from a street vendor. Books as portals, accessible to everyone, in a very physical sense. The vendor's glasses and stern look almost recall portraits of scribes, keepers of wisdom. Curator: The stall itself seems rudimentary. Almost like an altar dedicated to literature, raised off the ground. The linear markings certainly highlight its position. Do you think it's almost a sacred space? Somewhere to gain not just stories but a way out from humdrum existences. Editor: Perhaps, that table where knowledge is peddled serves as a modern equivalent of a medieval scribe’s table – a focal point of meaning and transmission of ideas. Even now, despite all the technology that engulfs our existence. I would wager there is someone somewhere today making a very similar purchase to this scene Henriet drew. Curator: What I enjoy is that while it depicts a fleeting interaction, the drawing somehow enshrines it – bestowing value on a quotidian moment. It forces us to pause, reflect, and acknowledge how profoundly ordinary encounters shape who we are. Editor: It does. Makes one think about how objects and our engagement with them are really vessels imbued with all kinds of cultural values and even personal meaning. This is the point with icons in their truest sense: that they point beyond the material to something else, to the numinous even. A book more than just paper and ink... Curator: And that, in a nutshell, is the true magic behind Henriët's ability to freeze a passing second for eternity, to uncover not only historical realities but a mirror for ourselves, and a space of cultural continuity. Editor: Well said. Next time I browse a bookstore, I will think twice about all these echoes from the past, resonating today!