Randkleven på Bornholm 1819 - 1823

Curator: This is "Randkleven på Bornholm," an etching by S\u00f8ren Henrik Petersen, made between 1819 and 1823. Editor: Wow. My first thought? Brooding! It feels like a place of secrets, of hidden stories carved into the very stone. It makes you want to be alone with your thoughts. Curator: The process is fascinating. The artist's etching and engraving on paper really emphasize the dramatic rock formations, wouldn’t you agree? Look at the way the lines create light and shadow. Editor: Absolutely! It’s funny, though. Knowing it’s an etching makes me think about all that precise labor, yet it feels so wild, almost untamed. It's romantic in its ruggedness. Curator: The Romantic style places emphasis on nature, and Petersen showcases this viewpoint. Romanticism really played on national identity and pride and also fed into it. The labor involved in creating prints like these allowed for wider distribution of landscapes celebrating unique local environments like Randkleven on Bornholm. Editor: Do you think that Romanticism also added a little something... dark? Maybe that’s why I see secrets in it? It has got this touch of something heavy hanging in the air like one of Caspar David Friedrich's cliffs. The trees growing out from rock add to the mood for sure. It's that struggle for life right on the very edge of nothingness. Curator: Perhaps the 'dark' edge of the era. Bornholm as a territory has also shifted allegiances historically quite often between Sweden and Denmark, I think, perhaps landscape depictions also allude to power or 'owning' landscape in a period of shifting geo-politics in Northern Europe. Editor: I never would have considered that. What's cool is that those two tiny figures give a sense of scale – a contrast against these massive stones. Almost like humanity against something way more powerful. Curator: That human/nature power dynamic was definitely part of the aesthetic experience during the time, so the artist including the small human element into the greater landscape creates commentary on society’s placement in the natural world. Editor: Seeing this now has added new appreciation for Bornholm; it’s made it less tourist destination, more landscape steeped in social histories. Curator: Exactly! Considering the methods of printmaking, along with the historical contexts, illuminates Petersen's art. I’ll never look at Romantic art in quite the same way again.