Staande hond 1809 - 1859

Curator: Pieter de Goeje, dating this image, titled “Staande hond” to 1809-1859. It appears to be a drawing, perhaps a print, though the exact medium might be engraving. What’s your initial take? Editor: It strikes me as very... stark. The light and shadow do most of the work. And I’m immediately drawn to the line work – how precise it is. You can almost feel the individual grooves left by the engraving tool. It speaks to a specific kind of labor. Curator: That linearity, I think, underscores a very specific idea of fidelity. Note how the engraver meticulously renders each hair, each muscle. Dogs have often represented loyalty, vigilance and companionship. Do you feel this echoes in the depiction? Editor: Absolutely, but I’d also say it elevates the status of both the animal and the print. It gives it… respectability, especially considering how prints were often used in mass production. How does this connect to a growing interest in domesticity at the time, or say, hunting culture? What about the price of paper in the Netherlands, and who would have been able to afford prints like these? Curator: A provocative line of inquiry! One cannot ignore the symbolism of domestication – both in taming the natural world and bringing order to society. There is, inherently, an aspirational message that goes beyond just accurate rendering of a common Spaniel-like breed. There are allusions to control here and ownership beyond mere companionship, embedded in the gaze of the subject. Editor: So, is this drawing celebrating human dominance over nature, framed by the means and market forces? I’m interested in the role the artisan, De Goeje, played in both perpetuating the master narrative and perhaps disrupting the notions of craft vs. high art via printmaking. Curator: Indeed. De Goeje manages to encapsulate both societal ambition and the beauty of the animal through a blend of skill and subtle visual metaphor. Editor: A nice summary—it brings into focus just how the context of materiality affects our understanding and symbolic significance in art.