Drei Personen an einem Tisch 

Curator: We’re looking at “Drei Personen an einem Tisch,” or “Three People at a Table,” a pencil drawing currently housed here at the Städel Museum. The artist is Rudolf Gudden. Editor: My first impression is this subdued tone – it's very intimate, almost like eavesdropping on a private conversation. The softness of the pencil work really contributes to that mood. You can almost feel the weight of their clothes in the lines. Curator: Indeed. The loose rendering, particularly around the background figures, keeps this genre painting feeling more immediate and informal. This reflects a move away from the rigidity of academic painting in the late 19th century towards scenes of modern life. The choice to work on paper further challenges traditional painting norms, favoring immediacy over grand statements. Editor: Exactly. Look at the varied pencil strokes—hatching, smudging—it's less about polished representation and more about capturing a fleeting moment. This really highlights the physical process and invites speculation on the artist's own labour: the movements, the pressure, the build up of graphite on paper. It is a casual, workaday snapshot of people occupying public space, or private life made visible, for sale in an art marketplace. Curator: And consider the positioning of these figures within the historical context. Gudden captures a very contemporary theme—individuals in public, a scene perhaps in a café. The work has roots in social observation and a focus on modern leisure. These subjects are made increasingly common through an interest in modern subject matter which can reach a broad middle class audience. Editor: Do you get a sense of whether or not this was part of a bigger series? The work really showcases the materiality of making in plain view, highlighting an ordinary moment removed from typical, higher forms of painting. Curator: It's hard to say definitively without more documentation about his full body of work. We might have some contextual material about its showing, but unfortunately the work is without a hard date. The loose presentation contributes to this reading about Gudden's perspective on genre-style work and themes, as the people sitting could also be friends of his, and so they are not made into rigid archetypes or allegories. Editor: Very true. Considering it's a pencil drawing, I find myself drawn to how such modest materials communicate such a potent sense of familiarity and warmth despite how simple it is. Curator: Yes, in this case the humble medium is part of the message! A drawing of such intimate themes gives way to a feeling of contemporary social conditions and their place within public consciousness and life, which can now also be commodified for social and personal gain.