Rejsedagbog 1845

Curator: Looking at this page from Johan Thomas Lundbye's 1845 "Rejsedagbog," or Travel Journal, what strikes you first? Editor: It’s undeniably intimate, like stumbling upon someone's private thoughts. The cramped handwriting suggests a hurried, almost breathless capturing of a moment. I imagine Lundbye scribbling away in a moving carriage! Curator: Precisely. Lundbye used drawings and words to document his travels, almost like visual poems describing places and daily life. This work on paper captures that beautiful dance. I think of travel journals as a precursor to vlogging. Editor: A lovely comparison, the analog and digital come together nicely. But what does Lundbye offer beyond simple documentation? The very act of handwriting, of selecting what to record, hints at a deeper layer. How did this process differ based on Lundbye's gender and class position? Travel was seldom possible without access, yet the history of Romantic art conveniently centers elite stories like these. Curator: Ah, such great food for thought there, because Lundbye, straddling Romanticism and nascent Realism, infused emotion into even the most mundane observations. Perhaps the simple act of choosing which observations to render in a journal are testament to those privileges and constraints. And consider, too, that in Romanticism we see genre paintings emerging as a popular form, giving value and validating, maybe even romanticizing the stories of the common classes. Editor: A necessary push-pull. Thinking about what he includes versus excludes tells us so much, and perhaps we shouldn’t be so focused on Lundbye the artist, but on the very construction of his romantic vision in relation to social conditions that facilitated this project. It makes me curious about who actually traveled and whose stories are rendered visible as part of this. Curator: Indeed! It pushes us to look at these personal narratives, like "Rejsedagbog", with a critical eye, while also acknowledging the subjective experience it represents. Editor: Ultimately, "Rejsedagbog" challenges us to consider the power dynamics embedded in what we deem “worthy” of recording, especially when considering how histories of romanticism continue to shape dominant understandings about travel, self expression, and whose memories are archived and accessible.