Schippers aan wal met schepen op de achtergrond 1870 - 1931

Editor: This is "Schippers aan wal met schepen op de achtergrond" by Willem Bastiaan Tholen, dating from 1870 to 1931, and it’s a pencil and graphite drawing at the Rijksmuseum. I’m really struck by how immediate it feels, almost like a snapshot of these dockworkers. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a potent study of labor and leisure. Look at the material simplicity: graphite on paper. This wasn't some grand commission, but likely a quick study, an observation of the working class and their relationship to the means of their production - the ships. Editor: The focus on the working class makes sense. What about the unfinished quality of the sketch? Curator: Exactly! It underscores the everyday nature of the scene. The roughness is honest; the means mimic the subject matter, capturing a specific time, not idealizing it. Note the pensiveness on their postures and faces. The work embodies and communicates what it shows! Editor: So, the materiality of the work, the cheap materials and sketching process, it gives insight into the worker's social condition and position... Curator: Precisely. It is about a fleeting, hard, laborious moment. How the worker produces capital by and through maritime labour, but then at that very moment – the end of work and shift. He's enjoying camaraderie at that crucial and only real moment of the working class’ real enjoyment. Does that chime with your way of viewing it? Editor: I like that, yeah. Seeing the piece through the lens of labor and materials really illuminates its significance. Curator: I agree. It brings new respect to an otherwise, unassuming piece of impressionism. Editor: Thanks. I learned to look beyond the simple impression and consider the means of production itself, thanks to your view on it.