Interiør med spillere 1746 - 1828

Curator: Welcome. We are standing before "Interiør med spillere," a drawing by C.A. Lorentzen, created sometime between 1746 and 1828. Editor: My first impression is how raw it feels. It's a quick sketch, not trying to be showy, just capturing a fleeting moment. Curator: Exactly. Lorentzen was working at a time when genre paintings, depictions of everyday life, were gaining popularity. We see here an intimate scene. Notice how the artist utilizes a pencil medium. It lends a degree of informal naturalness to the picture. It's much more raw, honest and revealing than one made for public spectacle like history painting, so you gain that kind of sensibility. Editor: Yes, the choice of pencil definitely impacts the feel. You can almost hear the scratching on the paper. The social context too; was pencil more accessible, and did that make art-making available to more people or different kinds of practitioners? Curator: An excellent question! The availability of the materials did contribute. And it helped develop new institutional and aesthetic concepts tied to the notions of visual and manual literacy. But tell me, what is your interpretation of the scene depicted here? Editor: I see the table as the center around which these lives intersect, providing not only occupation but sustenance through drinking and tobacco. This casual drawing style really shows a genuine depiction of real working materials. It reflects a burgeoning market culture! Curator: You’ve honed in on a critical perspective there! Lorentzen's background gives the image political context. He later became a celebrated history painter within the royal court. Consider the implications of that career progression for his later handling of subject matter. Editor: Interesting point about Lorentzen. Does this then offer any clues? I look more at the raw construction, you're more attentive to this later royal career. Curator: Ultimately, this work gives us insights into not only the production of art at the time, but the culture of artistic education and the social functions served by genre painting in the late 18th century. Editor: Precisely! It makes you consider the role of a drawing like this within the bigger economy of images, labor and artistic value.