De grappen van Briochet en Fricandeau 1894 - 1959

Curator: This lithograph print is titled "De grappen van Briochet en Fricandeau," placing its creation somewhere between 1894 and 1959. Here on display at the Rijksmuseum, it offers a series of vignettes in a classic comic strip style. Editor: My first thought? Chaos! It's like a culinary clown show. Brawls, pranks, maybe a hint of social commentary wrapped in baker's outfits? It tickles me. Curator: Indeed! The narrative elements are quite potent. As a piece within the art-nouveau tradition, one cannot help but notice how the humour serves to subtly underscore social anxieties, the kind of tensions simmering beneath a seemingly civilised society. Observe the almost cynical portrayal of labour, commerce, and law, each tainted by trickery. Editor: Trickery baked right in! The figures, drawn with just enough exaggerated detail to read as types, not people, amplifies that sense of detachment. A world where even the pastries are part of the joke, I reckon. A very Art-Nouveau take. Curator: The positioning of professions within these “grappen”, translated as jokes or pranks, really drives home the sentiment. Briochet and Fricandeau, seemingly representing bakers or merchants, are perpetually embroiled in these escapades, revealing a world where those in service navigate a web of exploitation and resistance. Editor: It reminds me a little bit of Punch and Judy, but with baguettes instead of batons. There is an undeniably macabre undertone bubbling beneath the sugar coating. Curator: Exactly! It’s a reflection of the socio-economic structures prevalent then, a critique that still holds resonance. One has to ask what's not explicitly rendered, those lived conditions and power dynamics at play beyond this light-hearted facade? Editor: Yeah. These old prints…they look light and fun, but once you start peeling back the layers, you can almost taste the disillusionment, bittersweet and yeasty all at once! Well that was certainly a funny if slightly worrying slice of history. Curator: Agreed, a seemingly straightforward comic, but with an aftertaste. Hopefully visitors will walk away with a newfound understanding.