Multi-figured scene 

Editor: Here we have a drawing, "Multi-figured scene" by Victor Müller, likely from the 19th century. It’s rendered in pencil on paper, and strikes me as very ephemeral and fleeting, like a half-remembered dream. What do you see in it? Curator: Ah, yes, a "dream state" feels right, doesn’t it? It reminds me of gazing up at clouds and finding figures emerge for just a moment. The artist is clearly wrestling with form here, and that's something I always admire: art that shows its workings, its questioning. Müller is circling the wagons of his subject – so many different attempts! I wonder if he's chasing something that keeps eluding him... What do you think they are doing? Editor: They seem to be in a kind of… embrace? Or maybe they’re struggling with each other? The lines are so faint it’s hard to be sure. Curator: I love that ambiguity. Perhaps he meant to capture that precise uncertainty. Or perhaps it’s our interpretation of the figures from our unique point of view. Don't you think that it is special when we can find universal meaning, in such abstract creations? Editor: It really does feel like our minds are filling in the gaps. Curator: Precisely! And that’s the magic of a good sketch, isn’t it? It invites us in, lets us participate in the act of creation, a collaborative effort between artist and viewer across time. Editor: Absolutely. I came in seeing something indistinct, but I now appreciate how the sketch-like quality is really inviting and not a drawback. Thanks for the insight. Curator: My pleasure. I always learn something new from looking closely with others. Thank you.