Maria met kind 1922

Curator: Here we have "Maria met kind" by Mommie Schwarz, created around 1922. It's a tempera lithograph print—a compelling fusion of graphic art with touches of modernism. Editor: It strikes me as something between a stained-glass window and a folk tale illustration, like a Christmas card from another dimension! The color palette is intense and a little… well, intentionally strange? Curator: Absolutely! The piece was designed as a Christmas supplement for a publication called "De Amsterdammer." Consider the social and political landscape then; the avant-garde was exploding across Europe, impacting how religious themes were reinterpreted. Editor: The elongated figures—especially Mary’s almost cartoonishly elongated features and her child—have this gravity but are also undeniably humorous. The surrounding landscape is teeming with unlikely animals and foliage, all rendered with equal importance, and that city on a hill! It's more dreamscape than landscape. Curator: Exactly, and note the visual influences! Schwarz engages with Symbolism here. It also invites considerations on art’s societal role at the time—moving away from strict realism and into expression and interpretation. It offered accessible and avant-garde imagery to a broader audience through print media. Editor: The way Mary gazes at the child seems so distant, which clashes so much with conventional religious imagery. It's a really compelling tension and gives this lithograph such a distinctive feel. It’s almost unsettling, challenging the traditional sentimental view of the subject. Curator: It also prompts reflection on how we encounter images publicly—like how publications mediate our interaction with art. "Maria met kind" asks a big question. Can mass-produced art carry the same emotional weight? Does its presence change our own expectations or the nature of "art" itself? Editor: Well, this one certainly wormed its way into my heart... though I admit I may not use it for *my* Christmas cards, Mommie Schwarz made something unique here that makes you reconsider every traditional Christmas image ever made! Curator: Precisely. It is a small token, yet carries so much significance when looked at from different social and political perspectives.