Gezicht op de vijver van de tuin van het Palais de Fontainebleau 18th century

Editor: This watercolor, "View of the pond in the garden of the Palais de Fontainebleau," made in the 18th century by an anonymous artist and housed at the Rijksmuseum, is lovely. It feels… delicate, I think, almost like a fashion plate with all these people leisurely placed throughout. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Consider the materials. Watercolor was relatively accessible and often associated with amateur or ‘feminine’ art practices at this time. But, placed alongside this detailed depiction of a Royal space like Fontainebleau, what does that tension tell us about the potential maker and intended audience? Was it possibly a record for the elite consumer or noble tourist of their activities and enjoyment within the space? Editor: So, you're thinking about who was buying these things? That it was about recording the leisure itself as a commodity? I hadn't thought of it that way. The scene itself feels so spontaneous. Curator: Perhaps 'spontaneity' was the impression that the patron wanted. The picturesque and the “natural” were very much in vogue in the eighteenth century, influencing garden design as well as painting. Editor: Interesting! So the labor might be obscured by the apparent leisure both within and without the painting itself? It feels like it points to how the production and the reception are deeply intertwined. I see it differently now! Curator: Precisely. Considering the materiality and intended market of this piece complicates our reading of the Rococo aesthetic on display here. It speaks to the increasing commercialization of aristocratic life.