The Bear Calls Renard to Appear Before the Council of the Animals from Hendrick van Alcmar's Renard The Fox 1650 - 1675

Editor: This engraving from 1650-1675, "The Bear Calls Renard to Appear Before the Council of the Animals" by Allart van Everdingen, feels almost like an illustration from a children's book, though maybe a bit darker. What jumps out at you when you look at this piece? Curator: For me, it's the way Everdingen uses the very process of engraving to create this fantastical, almost theatrical, space. Notice the lines, the marks themselves – they don't just depict fur or leaves; they construct the whole world. The labor involved in making these precise cuts becomes part of the narrative. How does the use of engraving, a readily reproducible medium, affect your perception of this artwork, especially in the 17th century? Editor: I guess it makes it more accessible, right? Not like a unique painting only a wealthy person could own. So, this image would circulate, telling its story to a wider audience... Curator: Precisely. This isn't just art for art's sake. It’s visual storytelling manufactured for consumption. Consider, too, the social commentary inherent in animal fables. "Renard the Fox" is a critique of society, veiled as entertainment. The materials, the printmaking process, allow that message to spread and take hold within the culture. It challenges the rigid lines between high and low art. Editor: So, it’s about the labor that went into making it and about how that labor allowed a wider group of people to access the story? Curator: Exactly! It brings the themes of accessibility, social critique and production all together, making them visible through the work itself. Editor: I never thought about prints in terms of social context like that. I was just seeing the image. Curator: That's the beauty of art; there's always a deeper story woven into the materials. I will always see the world a bit different from now on. Thanks.