Kunstnerens datter båret af hendes amme 1840s

Curator: This is Christen Købke's pencil drawing, "The Artist's Daughter Being Carried by Her Nurse," created sometime in the 1840s. It's a beautiful piece residing at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: Oh, a quick sketch full of tenderness. It's understated but there is so much warmth radiating. Curator: Precisely. As a drawing, it immediately raises questions about process. Købke, known for his paintings, clearly valued the immediacy of the pencil. Consider the societal position too. It's not just a domestic scene; it captures the social realities of child-rearing for middle-class families during this time, the reliance on hired help for childcare. Editor: You’re so right, you can feel the artist figuring things out on the page. See the way he's captured the weight of the child in the nurse’s arms with a few, deliberate lines. Also, to me, there’s almost something devotional here; an everyday Madonna and Child, capturing that almost ethereal mother and child bond through the lens of their own domestic space. It makes me think, how much trust is in this image. Curator: It also prompts us to consider Købke’s relationship with the nurse. What was her working environment? Was she adequately compensated? The soft strokes and sentimentality are somewhat misleading, aren't they? I keep coming back to the work involved, and labor—it forces me to reconsider what kind of picture of that is. Editor: It also makes me wonder, did she feel that tenderness in return, when she looked after the artist's child? Perhaps through her dedication and the long days she cared for the child it’s evident to me that she grew very fond of her, and if that were my child, I feel I’d be eternally grateful. Curator: So, despite the intimacy we perceive, we must consider the power dynamics inherent in this seemingly innocent domestic portrayal. A study of artistic production within social relations is a crucial perspective here. Editor: Absolutely. What began as an immediate sketch offers deeper questions. I felt initially such softness, but I see what you mean by this sketch prompting thought of societal framework surrounding family and support. Thank you for providing that perspective to shift the image I felt to a broader narrative of that time.