Portret van een vrouw met kind op schoot 1860 - 1880

Curator: This is a fascinating portrait of a woman and child, created sometime between 1860 and 1880 by Roelof Loots, utilizing photography. Editor: Yes, it is quite striking. It has a simple, earnest feel. What I find interesting is the clothing depicted - especially the mother’s striped top - and how that stands out against the somewhat austere setting. How would you approach analyzing this work? Curator: Let's consider this through a materialist lens. The very act of creating this photograph involved specific materials and a labor process that fundamentally differs from painting. What can you infer from this process about who it might portray, and why? Editor: Well, photography, even then, was probably more accessible than commissioning a painted portrait, implying perhaps this was a middle-class family who wanted to document themselves, but wouldn't necessarily be part of the elites. And the striped shirt -- it speaks to textile production, maybe even trade... Curator: Precisely. Photography allowed for a mass production of images and challenged earlier notions of who got memorialized. Consider the materiality of the photographic print itself, compared to the potential subject matter. Do the clothes tell us about what kind of raw materials would have been more accessible, or perhaps indicative of particular social position through mass produced clothing? Editor: So, it is the image's connection to production and material availability that matters. Instead of art as exceptional or ‘high’, the materialist perspective sees this as being linked to mundane aspects of industry, labor, consumption… and thus a valuable historical record. Curator: Exactly. Examining these everyday, readily accessible processes reveals more than any posed elegance. Thank you for helping me highlight these critical angles for art history. Editor: I certainly will keep that in mind! Thanks!