Print Possibly 1600 - 1699

Curator: My first thought? That looks awfully chilly in that studio! Everyone seems a little uncomfortable with their nudity, frankly. Editor: It's the draughtsmanship that grips me here, that mastery of line and tonal range achieved solely through etching and engraving. This is "Print," attributed to John Boydell, though possibly from the 17th century, housed here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It's a veritable ode to figuration, academic art, even... well, unabashed nudism. Curator: Yes, yes, technically brilliant, of course. But all those rather... identical women? I keep wondering what they’re *really* thinking. Are they thrilled to be muses or bored out of their minds? Or judging each other, maybe? Editor: Ah, the subjective experience, versus the objective reality of form! See how Boydell—if it *is* he—deploys line to model the torsion in their bodies, the subtle gradations suggesting flesh and weight. It’s pure Baroque drama. Consider also the *mise en scene*…a painter's studio as theatrical backdrop. Curator: True, there's a painter's studio complete with easel and the cutest little cherub assistant. That said, it feels staged, doesn't it? Almost as if Boydell set everything up. All of that feels too calculated to be truly moving. I am not particularly touched by it. Editor: But perhaps that’s the point. In this “Print,” it's not just about recreating reality but about idealizing it through an academic lens. That very artificiality *is* the statement—the controlled presentation of an idealised aesthetic! Curator: I think it leaves me feeling... distant, rather cold as if I am on the outside looking in, with the need of belonging and being a part of the group! Almost frozen in the attempt to try to understand a specific, perhaps non-achievable, notion of "beauty". Editor: Fascinating! So, we agree it’s skillfully executed, but it's an open question if one engages with it at an emotional level beyond aesthetic admiration. Curator: Exactly. Technique versus feeling; head versus heart. Perhaps there's room for both... maybe even on that empty canvas?