Picknick aan de rand van het bos 1661 - 1726

Curator: Ah, look at this little world! "Picknick aan de rand van het bos," or "Picnic at the Edge of the Woods." It's an engraving, likely from sometime between 1661 and 1726, nestled here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It feels theatrical, almost like a stage tableau. Everything is meticulously placed. Are these really woods, or a backdrop? The high contrast makes it so intense. Curator: That's the Baroque style for you—drama in every line. The print teems with characters having their meal under the shade. It's labeled in the print “Disner Champestre”—A Country Dinner. Do you think it looks idyllic or artificial? Editor: Well, the people look quite still. The ox is casually looming—it feels almost ominous? Then the elaborate clothes against this "natural" setting, plus the very arranged compositions, speak to courtly interests. What kind of ideas of "nature" were in play here? Curator: Good eye! These picnic scenes were often a way for the wealthy to reflect a romanticized idea of rural life, to enjoy leisure and plenty even amidst social and economic inequalities. This print shows what many aspired towards, an abundance born of natural processes. But those processes also involved people often left outside of the equation. Editor: So a carefully managed fiction. Even the little structures on the horizon... I see something else there—the casual observer is presented with something they do not understand, therefore it must exist beyond what can be conceptualized in current models. Like the wilderness of the heart. What do you make of its legacy now, after all this time? Curator: Its continued appeal, even as we recognize its historical complexities, tells me we're still drawn to the dream of harmony with nature. Of ease, fellowship, bounty. This print still triggers ideas of simple pleasures against complicated backgrounds. Editor: I think the sharp contrasts do that to us. An argument for and against the very activity taking place. We bring the turmoil!