Op de trap van een veilinghuis Possibly 1905

This image, *Op de trap van een veilinghuis,* is made by an anonymous artist. It’s a monochrome illustration, with sharp, dark lines that define the scene. I imagine the artist sketching rapidly, maybe in a cafe, capturing this moment of chaos and frustration. There’s something about the way the figures are drawn – slightly exaggerated, cartoonish – that makes me think the artist might have been making some commentary on social dynamics. I sympathize with the artist. Like, what if they were trying to be funny, but also capture the absurdity of this situation? I can feel the frustration of the man and see the fragility of the broken dish. The artist’s choice to focus on this specific moment of rupture… it’s like they’re inviting us to consider the absurdity of human interaction, and how a single slip can shatter expectations. We, as artists, are in an ongoing conversation, bouncing ideas off each other across time. There are infinite ways of understanding what an artist is trying to achieve with an artwork.