Verschillende hoofden en kapsels 1768

Curator: Well, look at this study in ink and paper, a drawing from 1768 titled Verschillende hoofden en kapsels by Joseph François Foulquier. It seems like a rogue’s gallery of high society hair. Editor: It’s like a field guide to powdered wigs! But beyond the satire, I see a visual compendium of societal constraints. Think about the hours spent maintaining these elaborate structures—a clear signifier of privilege and leisure extracted from someone's labor. Curator: Right? You can practically feel the hours those ladies and gents spent preening. Each face with its unique…personality. Foulquier really captures the character in the faces, and even seems to gently mock the extreme hairstyles. The delicate crosshatching gives them this fleeting quality, like captured dreams. Editor: Dreams atop stolen bread, I'd argue. These wigs symbolize a whole system, the Rococo obsession with superficiality and ornamentation mirroring the obliviousness to the brewing revolution. Look at how uniform the faces are beneath those extravagant 'dos—it speaks to a restrictive social climate. Curator: I think there's room for both, a certain playful spirit alongside the weight of history. Don’t you think some of them are daring with their wigs, even poking fun? And his draughtsmanship! So precise, yet imbued with energy. This is art having fun with itself. Editor: Maybe some subtly undermined expectations of feminine submission—the upward gaze, the playful adornment can be viewed as veiled expressions of dissent. These aren't just faces. They're historical players locked into structures of inequality. Curator: You know, for me, art always seems like a rebellion, an urge to find some individuality against society or other powerful forces. I’m fond of Foulquier. In capturing a fleeting world of finery he reveals so much. Editor: Agreed, that is a compelling notion that offers a lens to examine historical subjects and forms with all their messy implications and connections to a present of resistance, which makes looking at these historical characters and the systems they reflect a profoundly enriching experience.