Mul (Mullus surmuletus) 1790s

Curator: Well, I must say, the languid posture of the little red mullet in this watercolor and pencil drawing just exudes… disappointment. Like it just realized it swam into the wrong net. Editor: Intriguing, yes, especially in its formal arrangement within what looks to be an old album page. This is “Mul (Mullus surmuletus),” created in the 1790s by Jan Anton Garemyn. Note the delicate shading that models its form. Curator: Right, shading which gives it that “just caught” stillness, but then that faint, almost Baroque flourish with the wispy whiskers makes it seem so alive. And look how they contrast— the scales are like meticulous calculations against that soft belly. Almost like contrasting ideas battling for space. Editor: It’s the rendering of texture against line—the soft gradations versus crisp contours—that really capture the scientific precision characteristic of that late 18th-century descriptive aesthetic. Curator: Yet beyond the taxonomy, there’s also just… sadness. Maybe it’s those big, mournful eyes or the suggestion of breath still leaving it. As though Garemyn were saying something larger. Not just showing a fish, but loss itself, maybe even about humankind's limited perspective on our own world, since the image only occupies one small part of the book spread... Editor: That melancholic cast arises partly from the limitations inherent in reproductive practices of that era and baroque aesthetics which would have required the illustration to feel emotional. We mustn't let modern ideas about art distract from this piece's primary functions. Curator: Still, imagine if it leaped off the page, though—all scales and life again. Editor: Indeed. It’s a fascinating object and its quiet melancholy opens unexpected paths for viewers prepared to meet it on its own terms. Curator: I’ll not be eating red mullet anytime soon now... It’s ruined for me. Thanks for sharing these insights with me, the way Jan Anton Garemyn presents such detail with minimal media will surely capture all viewers.