Het oplossen van de Rijnbond, 1813 Possibly 1813

Editor: Here we have "The Dissolving of the Rhenish Confederacy, 1813," possibly by Thomas Rowlandson, using watercolor and printmaking techniques. It's currently at the Rijksmuseum. It's… intensely busy! So much is happening, like some chaotic alchemy experiment. What's your take? Curator: Look at the literal *material* transformations represented here. The print depicts a “German Stove,” fuelled by “Fire and Sword,” "Lies," and other nefarious inputs, which is central to Rowlandson's commentary on power and process. How might this relate to the material realities of war and political upheaval? Editor: Well, I see the stove, and the figures feeding it seem to represent different European powers…Are you suggesting the print itself, the act of its *production* is significant beyond just illustrating a historical event? Curator: Precisely. Rowlandson is not just documenting history, but engaging with it through the labor of artistic production. Consider the use of watercolor, often associated with immediacy, combined with the reproducible nature of printmaking. How does this combination democratize access to political commentary? What do we make of the labour involved in distributing the information? Editor: I guess a print allows a political statement to reach more people. Cheaper, mass produced… sort of like propaganda of the time? Curator: Exactly. And watercolour gives it that hand-made appeal. A strange duality. But notice too how this image itself comments on labor -- on *production*. Rowlandson suggests how actions and raw materials produce entirely novel circumstances. Editor: I’ve never really considered how materials or even medium connects to the meaning. This has really opened my eyes to analyzing art on so many more levels! Curator: And perhaps how that changes what 'art' even means at the time, to contemporary eyes.