Koppen en haas 1840 - 1880

Editor: So, this is "Koppen en haas," or "Heads and Hare," an ink drawing on paper by Johannes Tavenraat, dating somewhere between 1840 and 1880. It reminds me of a preparatory sketch for a larger painting, capturing all these different character studies and this fleeing hare. What stands out to you when you look at this piece? Curator: The assortment of heads, each with distinctive features and expressions, certainly catches the eye. I see here more than simple character studies. Look closely, and we begin to observe types and perhaps even social commentaries of the period. Notice how each 'head' is categorized by different headwear: What are the various cultural connotations carried across social and historical memories? Editor: That's interesting! I was so focused on the seemingly random placement of everything. So you see it more as a collection of societal figures than just...faces? Curator: Precisely. Each of these figures may embody the cultural memory associated with its historical social position and its class. Even the inclusion of the hare is symbolic: the hunted as well as the free, which could imply a myriad of interpretations of the position of freedom within the depicted society. Does the way the figures and the animal are arranged, perhaps lacking any connecting story, strike you as particularly meaningful? Editor: I guess I hadn't considered the hare as part of the social commentary. The drawing feels almost like a record of observation... Thank you, I hadn’t thought of those cultural ties. Curator: It reveals how seemingly disparate elements can coalesce to create layers of meaning within a single image. An Iconographer’s work never ends!