De maand augustus after 1635

Editor: Right now, we're looking at Frederick Bloemaert's "De Maand Augustus," or "The Month of August," created after 1635. It's an ink drawing on paper and it has the quiet stillness of a warm afternoon. What do you see in this piece, besides folks enjoying a midday nap? Curator: Oh, the sheer delightful ordinariness of it all! It's a scene plucked right from the heart of the Dutch Golden Age. These genre scenes were so popular. Bloemaert's not just showing us a landscape, he's offering a glimpse into everyday life, the rhythm of the seasons. Look at the contrast between the sleeping figures, utterly relaxed under that abundant tree, and the lone farmer still toiling in the distance. Does that contrast suggest anything to you? Editor: Maybe it’s about labor versus leisure? The reward after hard work is a nap in the orchard? Curator: Precisely! Or perhaps the never-ending cycle of labor. It's got this dreamlike quality, hasn't it? Like a hazy memory of a summer day, but look closely at the details rendered with such sharp precision: the apples scattered on the ground, the weave of the basket. Bloemaert’s technique adds such a beautiful tension, that realism against the dreamy theme of leisure. Makes you want to be there, doesn’t it? Editor: It really does. That sense of escaping the heat is palpable. I'd not really considered drawings as capturing that kind of atmosphere before. I guess it is all about those contrasting ideas! Curator: Art has so much to teach, especially when it is about a good summer afternoon nap! I learned something myself today, and this ordinary artwork reminded me about how beautiful mundane things are.