Kinderen spelend met speelgoedsoldaten 1910

Curator: This captivating work by Frits Lensvelt, titled "Children Playing with Toy Soldiers," dates back to 1910. It's rendered with pen on paper, showcasing delicate lines in what could be termed a modern approach. What's your immediate impression? Editor: Well, first off, the drawing style really creates this dreamlike atmosphere. A little unnerving, but definitely filled with childhood fantasy, if I were to find myself in this landscape. The size of everything feels so wrong, and everyone looks as bald as can be... Curator: It's fascinating, isn't it? I mean, looking at the spatial dynamics, the composition almost sets a stage. We've got this tiered landscape where the children are playing, arranged to maximize the space, and there's an oddly skewed perspective that suggests the unreality of this play. What do you think it conveys? Editor: I think this drawing wants me to go with it. If I were to assume these kids' headspace I'd wager that this reflects the boundless energy, as if war-games is on trial to figure out a reality or some other kind. You almost wonder, with these games in childhood, whether we really know where the border is, and which things are okay to bring with us forward into the adult life? Curator: I'm so into that interpretation! This work feels particularly charged if you consider it alongside the brewing tensions leading up to the First World War. While it’s certainly innocent on the surface, do you sense an undercurrent of societal unease? Is it simply child's play? Or, is it perhaps unknowingly mirroring or, reflecting the atmosphere that was coming? Editor: Absolutely. I am all on board! It also says something important about family dynamics and their presence: a world both intimate and also subject to an unspoken expectation of a very dark horizon. The delicate pen work heightens the stakes involved... it is so close to everything else, yet apart, on display in a cabinet, perhaps even on trial as its scale plays such a prominent role in my sense of sight when watching the piece. Curator: Absolutely, so with this idea in mind it almost allows us a glimpse, not only into Lensvelt’s artistic sensitivities, but also a moment into early 20th century anxieties surrounding war. "Children Playing with Toy Soldiers," indeed a playful tableau in such complex times! What are your final thoughts? Editor: Indeed! It is an intimate experience that gives me the creeps while I remember all my most fond days with plastic soldiers on a lawn somewhere; truly one for the time capsule.