Twee voorstellingen uit de verhalen van Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker 1797

Curator: Ah, this striking piece is "Twee voorstellingen uit de verhalen van Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker" – Two scenes from the stories of Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker - by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, created in 1797. It’s an engraving, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. What captures you right away about it? Editor: Well, there's a curious theatrical feel. Like looking at tiny, highly detailed stage sets frozen in time. The left scene has this wonderful tension, while the right, the cluster of figures reminds me of some neoclassical tableau vivant. The greyscale feels almost… ghostly. Curator: Ghostly! Yes, it's funny you should say that, because to me this Romantic period print makes it difficult to extract the feeling Chodowiecki tried to convey. Engravings are notorious for simplifying emotion due to the limitations of materials available at that time. Editor: You are definitely right. There is a feeling of detachment that can come up when dealing with prints from that era, and that probably takes some adjustment. But perhaps there’s something deliberately stark and analytical. It's almost like a play within a play - each figure exists as an avatar within this world Chodowiecki has built, representing both action and an audience. I'm quite captured by the contrast. One of potential departure, another a scene where everyone is frozen reading this piece of music. Curator: The portraits lining the walls also reinforce that narrative of people playing a role, becoming observed… It all suggests the weight of societal expectation doesn’t it? Each framed face an emblem, reflecting aspirations to become historical figure? I see Romantic era yearning expressed, despite what you rightly suggest are technical or mechanical shortcomings. Editor: I'd almost forgotten about those faces. They really set this atmosphere, this tension of being looked at, of living up to expectation, almost like being watched at all times by people of your community. They feel more important somehow in this play. And they reflect back on the modern reader too… Are we doomed to watch forever in this historical reenactment, the little ghostly watchers in these people’s daily lives? Curator: Absolutely. So the figures both contain a universal quality for the viewer today while existing as 1797 period-specific vignettes. As Chodowiecki created so many other images as illustrations, for title pages, for almanacs –he truly excelled at compressing a multitude of subtle narrative strands within minimal means. Editor: Thinking about it now, there is so much for the eye to latch onto here, despite how diminutive these pieces may seem. It leaves me wondering who we would be if our ancestors got to witness us from afar. Curator: Beautiful, absolutely, perhaps what Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki was pondering also, during his lifetime of creative output!