Spotprent op gouverneur-generaal Mijer, 1868 1867

This political print by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans, dating to 1868, is made with the simple graphic process of line drawing on paper. But don’t let the straightforward technique fool you – there’s a lot of social commentary packed into this image. The depicted scene shows a Dutch Governor-General relaxing in a gazebo, seemingly unconcerned about the volcanic eruption in the background. This references the social and political turmoil in the Dutch East Indies at the time. The choice of a line drawing, a relatively accessible and reproducible medium, suggests that this critique was intended for a broad audience, and hinting at a wider discontent. The meticulous execution of the drawing, with its precise lines and careful shading, reflects the artist’s skill and attention to detail, highlighting the sharp contrast between the Governor-General's inaction and the labor it took to make the image, thus underscoring the message about colonial indifference. The meaning here is inseparable from the making.