Figuren op het strand 1848 - 1888

Editor: This drawing, "Figuren op het strand" – Figures on the Beach – by Anton Mauve, made sometime between 1848 and 1888, uses just pencil on paper. It's strikingly simple. The figures are almost ghostly. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Well, given the simplicity of the medium – just pencil on paper – it forces us to consider the process and context of its creation. Consider Mauve's socio-economic position and access to materials. Was pencil readily available? Paper? To whom? Was this made as a preparatory sketch or as a finished piece itself? Editor: I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way. I was focused on the Impressionistic style. Curator: Indeed, it anticipates impressionism, but consider the labor embedded within those ‘impressions.’ Where do you think this sketch was created? The quick lines seem to imply something about the process of production and perhaps on-site work, blurring the boundaries between studio and world. The subject, too, asks questions. Who are these figures? Editor: They look like everyday people; maybe workers at the beach? Is Mauve commenting on labor by depicting common figures and his use of common, accessible materials? Curator: Precisely. His choice challenges established notions of ‘high’ art and artistic labor by engaging everyday labor and materiality. He democratizes both subject matter and artistic means. Editor: So, even in its seeming simplicity, the sketch prompts complex ideas regarding class, labor, and the artistic process! I’ll never look at a pencil drawing the same way again. Curator: And that, in essence, is the beauty and intellectual appeal of Materialism: we reconsider the art in broader contexts.