Spreekwoorden 1844

Curator: Here we have “Spreekwoorden,” an engraving dating to 1844, created by Jan Schuitemaker as a print for "Prenten-Magazijn voor de Jeugd", or Prints-Magazine for the Youth. The magazine looks like it tried to instill some values to young people using narrative imagery. Editor: This engraving looks incredibly dense, each of the four vignettes crammed with details! The contrast between the dark shadows and the light areas seems very stark, perhaps related to the printing techniques of the time. It seems almost didactic to the viewer’s eye. Curator: Exactly, engravings were vital for disseminating information and values. Look closely, each scene illustrates a different Dutch proverb accompanied by a descriptive poem printed below. Editor: So the meaning is embedded not only visually, but textually. The entire work then becomes about mass production: reproducing and spreading moral lessons through readily available means. Curator: Precisely. Each scene gives visual form to familiar proverbs, reinforcing societal expectations, you could see these prints appearing in schoolrooms, orphanages, etc. given its original target audience. Editor: You almost feel like you're looking at instructions on the materiality of how to live your life, presented in a reproducible format for easy consumption! Curator: Think of the social currency here, this magazine circulated narratives of success and morality, constructing good citizenship. These simple prints worked to perpetuate accepted behaviors. Editor: Well, looking at the density of detail, I am seeing the intense labor of the artist involved in transferring these stories through that needle into those metal plates! So much meticulous activity to ultimately promote perhaps constricting social norms! Curator: In that case we both can agree on that it delivers some good food for thought about its means, intentions, and broader influence on culture. Editor: A complex interaction between material production, its social impact, and its endurance. Makes you ponder about contemporary artistic productions, too.