Inneres einer Schenke mit zechenden Bauern, einer Magd und Kindern 1777

Editor: Marquard Wocher’s "Inneres einer Schenke mit zechenden Bauern, einer Magd und Kindern," from 1777, is rendered in ink, charcoal, gouache and other media on paper. It shows peasants drinking in a tavern and strikes me as an interesting representation of everyday life at the time. What stands out to you about it? Curator: This piece, to me, screams of labor and the social fabric woven from it. Consider the tavern itself - the materials, the construction. It’s a hub built through collective effort, a space of respite *and* a site of continued, if less formal, economic exchange. Do you see how Wocher meticulously depicts the details – the worn textures of the walls, the roughly hewn furniture? Editor: Yes, the textures definitely convey a sense of lived-in space, of hard work, and the materials certainly play a significant role in shaping that impression. But I suppose I was also thinking of the *people* more. Curator: Exactly! The people *are* the material here, in a sense. Their clothing, their tools barely visible in the foreground, their very bodies—they all speak to their roles within the broader socio-economic landscape. Look at the way Wocher uses gouache, ink and charcoal to highlight their features. He is essentially crafting a material narrative of their lives. Editor: I never thought about it that way – of the people themselves being material to the art. It almost sounds like the painting transforms them into objects. Curator: It’s a representation, yes, but it’s also a statement. Wocher forces us to confront the physical reality of these individuals and their dependence on this structure. In doing so, the artwork breaks down traditional high art vs craft distinctions by presenting us the unvarnished reality of production and the making of art. We often ignore the process of material acquisition in favour of symbolism, right? Editor: That's a very helpful and thought-provoking way to look at art. I'm grateful for that perspective. Curator: Likewise. Paying attention to process gives this genre painting an enduring value.