Vissen in manden op het strand 1862

Editor: Here we have Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic’s “Fish in Baskets on the Beach,” created in 1862 using charcoal. There’s something unsettling about the starkness of the scene, almost like a memento mori. What do you make of it? Curator: It's interesting that you pick up on that feeling. Consider Lepic's choice of charcoal and printmaking—techniques that allow for mass production. How does that affect our reading of what is, ostensibly, a still life? Is it still life, or something else? Editor: Hmm, I see what you mean. Making many identical images suggests a certain commodification of this scene, like a fish market, perhaps. Curator: Exactly! And what about the baskets? They're not just neutral containers. Baskets represent labor, trade routes, economic structures… It forces us to consider the labor involved in bringing these fish to us. Editor: So it's not just about the dead fish; it's about the entire system that leads to them being here? Curator: Precisely! Think about the materiality of the image, too. Charcoal is made by burning wood - a transformation. Similarly, the fish have been extracted, altered and are on the cusp of becoming commodities, ready for consumption. Editor: That's fascinating. I never considered the social and economic implications so directly. Curator: Art often serves as a record, intentional or not, of such transformations, prompting us to think beyond aesthetics. Editor: Thanks! This certainly gives me a new perspective.