Fama og andegård 1867 - 1869

Editor: So, this is "Fama og andegård," or "Fame and the Duck Yard," a pencil drawing by Wilhelm Marstrand, made between 1867 and 1869. It feels almost like a study, with the winged figure and then the… well, the duck yard. What exactly am I looking at here? Curator: From a materialist perspective, the combination is fascinating. We have the figure of Fame, often associated with grand historical narratives, rendered here in the same medium and with the same level of detail as a group of domestic fowl. It's almost as if Marstrand is collapsing the traditional hierarchy between high art and everyday life. Editor: I see. So, the angel is no more important than the ducks because of the equal consideration given to each... But what was he trying to say with this contrast? Curator: Think about Marstrand’s audience and the social context. He’s working at a time when industrialization is rapidly changing Denmark. Perhaps this juxtaposition is a comment on the shifting values, the blurring lines between the elevated and the mundane in a society increasingly focused on production and material wealth. The ‘means of production’ here becomes literally…poultry farming? Editor: So Fame isn't some romantic ideal, but a resource in a farm? That idea is jarring! How radically subversive was that at the time? Curator: We have to remember that artistic materials also had monetary values then, and labor costs were involved. The artist had to choose how and on what to spend them. The decision to portray something so mundane indicates deliberate intent, or at the very least, is revealing about how he considered his subjects, no? Editor: It definitely flips my understanding of that kind of figurative representation. Thanks for the perspective; it has made me re-evaluate drawing in general. Curator: Precisely! Now consider how this lens applies to other works as well; what labour went into their artmaking, and to what societal needs or narratives are they contributing.