Jongen in bed c. 1900 - 1930

Curator: Let's take a look at Elly Verstijnen's "Jongen in bed," or "Boy in Bed," a genre-painting ink drawing likely created sometime between 1900 and 1930. Editor: My first impression is one of starkness. The economy of line, the rawness of the exposed drawing surface... there's something incredibly immediate about it. It speaks volumes with minimal means. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the context: around the turn of the century, societal expectations of childhood were rapidly evolving. Verstijnen presents us with a moment of vulnerability, of illness perhaps. Note the bottle and the jar of what seems to be medication on the nightstand. What does it mean to portray a young boy not as robust and active, but as confined and contemplative? Editor: The material choices underline this too. It’s a sketch, almost like a quick study. Was Verstijnen thinking about the accessibility of care? About labor and health disparities perhaps? The roughness emphasizes the lived experience. Ink, easily reproducible, makes a potent statement about these realities, reaching a wider audience through affordable reproductions in books and papers. Curator: It really calls into question the typical power dynamics between artist and subject and viewer. By capturing this candid, intimate moment, she acknowledges a shared humanity. And if we look through a feminist lens, is she commenting on how sickness confines? Gender roles and sickness are often entangled for women during that time. Editor: It prompts us to consider Verstijnen's own labor, the skill involved in translating depth and emotion with such a limited palette. Each line, each shading, holds meaning. The method is stripped back, but in doing so allows us direct access to the sentiment of the artist's intent. Curator: It is the tension between realism and emotion. Realism captures a time. The material provides something else – almost ethereal to speak. Editor: Exactly. That raw material becomes very delicate when put against a young vulnerable body. Curator: Well, what a delicate drawing about the delicate period of youth. Editor: It definitely invites multiple ways to contextualize materials with subject, indeed.