Rhenen 1922

Curator: Here we have Jo Bezaan’s 1922 etching, “Rhenen.” What strikes you about it? Editor: Immediately, a stillness. The monochromatic palette coupled with the precision of the etched lines evoke a quiet reverence for this Dutch cityscape. I'm drawn to the tree that dominates the frame; it makes me think of a Japanese woodblock print somehow. Curator: Yes! The artist’s control over light and shadow gives a kind of solidity to what might otherwise feel very fleeting. The tree’s silhouette does command the foreground, acting almost like a theatrical curtain framing the tower beyond. It’s interesting how Bezaan simplifies the architecture and flattens the perspective, pushing towards abstraction but still maintaining a sense of place. I wonder, why Rhenen? What meaning did this place hold? Editor: Rhenen, a small town, was historically significant. Heavily fortified in the past, but also strategically vulnerable because of its position on the Rhine. During the Interwar period when Bezaan created this, anxieties around borders and national identity were certainly acute in Europe. Choosing such a charged, if seemingly picturesque, site feels... poignant, if perhaps not intentional. What's visible is a very traditional Dutch landscape; but perhaps we are to remember all that lurks behind it? Curator: It makes me wonder, then, if this wasn't just an aesthetic rendering of Rhenen, but maybe also a psychological one—a probing of the spirit of a place shaped by historical tension. There’s also a graphic quality to the work; look how the stark geometric shapes of the buildings contrast with the organic forms of the trees! This echoes similar visual experiments among the members of De Stijl around the same time, even if the end results are very different.. Editor: Exactly! I can see that tension between form and representation, between the concrete and the ephemeral, mirroring the anxieties of a time wrestling with its past and its future. I’d even say this image captures a uniquely Dutch ethos. Rooted in its soil, solid like its buildings—but always, subtly threatened. Curator: A fittingly understated sentiment, given the nature of the artwork itself, then! I will be thinking about all the past layers that still sit beneath the surface of this image. Editor: Precisely. I’m grateful this image reminds me to look harder, past surface appearances, to see what histories are embedded there.