Rivieroever met boten en een harmonica spelende jongen 1889

Curator: Here we have Conrad Ahrendts’ etching from 1889, "Riverbank with Boats and a Harmonica-Playing Boy". Made with paper as support, isn't it just marvelous how much atmosphere is packed in such a small format? Editor: It's utterly captivating. Melancholy washes over me looking at it; something about the dark, scratchy textures coupled with the wistful scene along the river...It feels so intensely lonely, romantic, and beautifully human all at once. Curator: I am so intrigued by how he presents a humble scene of music and leisure with such palpable technical skill. Take note of Ahrendts’ labor to generate mood with something that isn't that easily manipulated, an etching. How was Romanticism embraced by a mass market eager to own these intimate scenes? It reminds us of the commodification of yearning, in a sense. Editor: Right. It's easy to look at the melancholic mood and consider it detached. But it makes you think. Did they hear this tune? And where are their minds floating off to in those boats at the bank of the river? How interesting is that a scene that suggests people's dreams in an artistic print made by meticulous industrial work? Curator: Precisely. Romanticism’s focus on individual expression ironically made itself accessible for so many to internalize and replicate this very idea of self-discovery. An artisan then would produce pieces, and their craftmanship then served both to create AND circulate sentiments about inner expression to people. Editor: I guess one is inevitably shaped by the tools they manipulate in their artwork. It's almost humbling. Thinking about all of this labor just concentrated here, in an intimate artwork intended for contemplation. You begin seeing and listening differently, that's for sure. Curator: Well said! Perhaps our audiences will also carry with them an awakened, listening heart from now on.