Silvie 1700 - 1750

Curator: This is Claude Henri Watelet’s print, "Silvie," created sometime between 1700 and 1750. The piece currently resides here at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Oh, wow, a tempestuous scene. Lots of furious lines, dramatic contrasts, an almost claustrophobic density in its making. I can almost feel the static electricity crackling off the page. Curator: Watelet was quite the craftsman; note the delicate etching and engraving, a testament to the labor invested. Look how he's harnessed the medium of printmaking to evoke a powerful scene of Baroque intensity. Editor: Baroque indeed! And think about who this piece would have been intended for – the elites, enjoying leisure while artists like Watelet toiled away to bring them… well, "Timidity of Aminta," the inscription suggests, and maybe other grand historical narratives and dramas. The consumption of drama! All through labor-intensive methods of production. Curator: There's a lovely tension. It captures both raw emotionality, and, through the details like the classical ruins hinting in the background, an awareness of an old historical tradition. Does the awareness take away from that drama? Does it elevate it? I am not sure! It’s like two stormfronts colliding. Editor: Stormfronts of the studio! So much handiwork to create what feels like a spontaneous expression of… trepidation, if we are really thinking about "timidity." I'm just considering the material and the human touch involved in distributing and circulating images like this – images designed to instill awe, and also maybe reinforce certain social dynamics between viewer and art-maker. Curator: What do you make of her pose, staff in hand, in the thick of it, poised in the storm? I see an artist facing turmoil head-on, trying to create despite it, a creator, yes, trembling in it! And making work about trembling in it. Editor: And making this kind of “trembling” palatable and presentable, marketable almost, as an emotional aesthetic that suits and feeds an audience hungry for experience on demand. That exchange between artist and consumer… That interests me in this fraught scene the most, I think.