Jong meisje, staand in een looprek 1839 - 1909

Curator: Well, hello there! Today we’re looking at a piece titled “Jong meisje, staand in een looprek” – that's “Young girl, standing in a baby walker” – an etching and print on paper, created by Auguste Danse sometime between 1839 and 1909. Editor: My initial reaction? It's a whimsical cage! She looks like a tiny, serious bird, observing the world from within this peculiar structure. What strikes me is how it completely redefines her space. Curator: Indeed! That 'looprek', that walking frame, was actually quite common. We must look closely to appreciate the printmaking process. The textures and the density of the marks are all clues, for example, it would be worth understanding the paper used for printing… Editor: You know, there’s an intriguing tension between freedom and constraint, don't you think? This walking frame becomes this sort of material boundary, but also, what an innovative technology. Who designed it and what were they thinking? What does this cage allow that wouldn't have been previously possible? Curator: Ah, so we're delving into the physical limitations imposed upon this child… While simultaneously marveling at the materials used. This reminds us how different lives were not so long ago. Children were in different relationship with care, production and upbringing! Editor: It also has a strange vulnerability. Seeing the etched lines, it highlights the making; what labour, what consumption of resources? It’s beautiful and yet you know somebody has labored on each one of those small actions of material production. I want to reach in there and set her free. Is that crazy? Curator: Not crazy at all! It evokes such tenderness but there's so much thought in her brow, or maybe its melancholy? It’s fascinating how something rendered so simply can stir up such feelings. Danse captured a certain timeless quality. Editor: Timeless and yet so rooted in material reality. Thinking about childhood then versus now, it makes you wonder what future audiences will see when they look back at our current material footprint, you know? I love its starkness, the simple use of materials... It's quite compelling, this small window into another world, don’t you think?