Meisje schrikt van hond 1870 - 1937

Curator: The Rijksmuseum holds this interesting drawing. It’s titled "Meisje schrikt van hond" – "Girl startled by dog", if you will – dating roughly from 1870 to 1937, by an anonymous artist. The artwork involves pen and ink on paper. Editor: What strikes me is how unsettling the image feels despite its commonplace subject matter. The stark monochrome, the exaggerated poses… it evokes a deep-seated fear, a primal aversion to the unexpected. Curator: Indeed. The depiction of the startled girl resonates with prevailing Victorian sensibilities, where composure and control, particularly for women in the public sphere, were highly valued. Losing control was practically a social sin! The unleashed dog represents chaos invading order, threatening the social structure. Editor: Visually, the dog lunging feels like an embodiment of id meeting superego. We see her in a carefully constructed, almost restrictive outfit. That massive skirt suggests repression but now juxtaposes violently against the wildness of this canine. The symbolism taps into cultural anxieties of that period, as well as something fundamental about our personal boundaries being breached. Curator: That's astute. There’s also an interesting play on visual conventions. Genre paintings were frequently idealized, meant to depict domestic harmony, reinforcing social ideals. But this drawing turns the genre on its head by illustrating a disruption of such expected harmony, thereby highlighting the artificiality of it. Editor: It's almost as if the artist intentionally undermines the sweet imagery typical in popular culture to depict a more visceral reality. Her wide eyes say everything. Is the artist making commentary on the expectation that young women, as members of high society, always appear calm, well mannered, or gracious when they most certainly don't feel that way internally? I feel it very well might. Curator: Precisely. Anonymous as the artist is, we can clearly observe a very clever understanding of how art mediates and responds to very palpable tensions within its society. Editor: And within ourselves. Makes one think about how symbols around chaos affect everyone, regardless of when or where they live. It will be something to continue musing about after moving on from here, certainly. Curator: It leaves you appreciating how this image opens to interpretation of its time and place, doesn't it?