Nissen; Stormen 1845

Adolph Kittendorff created this piece, Nissen; Stormen, with an etching technique. It depicts two scenes: a woman near a basket, and a boy fleeing in a storm. Notice how the basket, a humble object of labor, becomes a vessel of cultural memory. Across centuries, the basket motif appears, from the infant Moses hidden amongst the reeds to the cornucopia of harvest abundance. The image carries with it the emotional weight of protection, nurture, and the cyclical rhythm of life. Juxtapose this with the boy in flight, hat lost in the wind. The storm, a symbol of chaos and upheaval, echoes through art history, think of shipwrecks and tempests by Turner. It embodies both external threat and internal turmoil, reflecting the subconscious human struggle against forces beyond our control. These archetypal images in Kittendorff’s etching resonate deeply, tapping into our shared human experience and the collective memory of survival and adaptation. The cyclical reappearance of such symbols underscores the enduring power of visual language to evoke profound emotional and psychological responses.