Galgewater te Leiden, ca. 1790 Possibly 1786 - 1825

Curator: This piece is a watercolor and ink drawing called "Galgewater te Leiden" by Carel Frederik Bendorp, dating from around 1790. What strikes you immediately about it? Editor: Immediately? A curious calm. It's such a detailed, busy cityscape, full of human presence, but suffused with such a muted light that the scene becomes somehow meditative, like a stage set for a daydream. Curator: Indeed. The choice of media is very telling. Watercolor and ink allow for a delicate, almost ephemeral rendering of the architecture and atmosphere. Bendorp, like many artists of his time, was interested in capturing not just the visual appearance but also the feeling of a place, en plein-air. Editor: It almost feels like an idealized version, even. Are those truly the colours? There's a softness, almost an embrace in the muted palette, isn't there? That windmill, normally so industrial, appears almost welcoming! It feels almost like he's playing with light and shadow to transform what was probably a bustling port into something softer, less…harsh. Curator: Absolutely. And that touches on the broader social context. While the Netherlands was a major mercantile power, there was also a growing sensibility for Romanticism—a focus on emotion, the sublime, and the picturesque. Bendorp captures Leiden’s industrial reality but infuses it with Romantic ideals. The placement and activity of workers are evident but the means of extraction or output, which implies its environmental and social impact, are noticeably obscured. Editor: I love the reflection of the windmill on the water! It creates a visual doubling, this strange mirroring of labour and nature in the early stages of industrial society. And yet, that Romantic spirit filters even into the industrial representation, softening what we could see today, even in a beautiful waterscape like this, as quite dangerous work! It becomes wistful. Curator: Exactly. Bendorp uses his skill to mediate the industrial realities and his interpretation gives you a feeling like you are taking a stroll through 1790's Leiden, but through rose tinted spectacles. Editor: It makes you wonder about the artist’s own longing—for an idealized past, or perhaps an idealized future? Thank you; this one has definitely given me much to think about.