Venster met gordijnen c. 1885 - 1895

Curator: I'm struck by the opulence, a kind of controlled excess in the fabric folds. Editor: Today we're considering "Venster met gordijnen," or "Window with Curtains," a lithograph print by Léon Laroche, dating to somewhere between 1885 and 1895. It’s quite a find within the decorative arts. Curator: Excess is the word. Curtains act as frame to what’s framed, offering a tantalizing hint of domestic interiors in a specific moment of European design. What do we see, really, but symbols of wealth? Editor: I see both enclosure and prospect. The decorative weight feels historically grounded, referencing the earlier Louis XV style described on the print. Yet, by choosing a window, is the artist also referencing an opening to the outside world? It asks the question of access and privilege. Curator: The motif of the curtain itself! So laden. Here it seems less about revealing a view than about cloaking the scene in status. I find it intriguing, the window not acting as a threshold but as an emblem of power. Think of other symbolic representations using curtains...drawing back the veil of reality or covering an obscenity. The window here is purely decorative. Editor: You speak of power and obscenity. Indeed, I see how a study of interiors reveals much more than just decor. Laroche’s window dressing could symbolize a larger societal screening that needs further critical inspection, asking who benefits from such lavish presentation, and whose stories get overshadowed by these sumptuous settings? Curator: The window to social inequality. Editor: Precisely! From decorative detail, to revealing larger systems at play! The simple elegance here has led me to question larger issues related to privilege, and history. Curator: As for me, I think it leads the mind's eye to a more aesthetic experience: what’s more decorative and pleasing to look at than a grand view of what cannot be obtained. Editor: Maybe they aren't so different, after all. An invitation to contemplation in both instances.