Schetsjes van juristen en een duivelskopje 1819 - 1881

Curator: Looking at this sheet of sketches, it's like catching Johannes Tavenraat in a private moment of playful observation, likely sometime between 1819 and 1881. It's entitled "Schetsjes van juristen en een duivelskopje" - "Sketches of lawyers and a devil's head." What impressions bubble up for you? Editor: Well, it's mostly in pencil, right? Immediately, I see the raw material—the graphite almost smeared in places from handling. There's an immediacy, a "this is how I felt in this moment" energy radiating from the page. These faces...are they powerful men, or caricatures of them? Curator: I think it's both. Observe how he captures the details of their attire, suggesting professional standing. And then those faces! Particularly that devilish grin… mischievous doesn't even begin to cover it. The lawyers feel more real to me. The so-called "devil" figure has that kind of unhinged smile. Tavenraat might be satirizing authority. Editor: Yes! Exactly. It speaks volumes about the culture in which he was creating. To even *dare* to depict those in power in such a way suggests that people began challenging those power structures. And also the physical materials...this paper isn't archival quality. It's everyday, practical. An artist is not separated from daily life and material struggles in society. It looks very simple to make art—to participate and offer ideas in response to a particular situation in history. Curator: It invites us to question their motives and perhaps even the justice they administer. It reminds me a bit of Hogarth's engravings—the critique woven into the craft. Tavenraat is having a conversation about human nature using images as words. Editor: It reminds me that so many artworks begin with quick sketches on scraps of paper. The “finished” piece we see hanging on the walls had all these humble beginnings. The cost of creation here, even factoring in the artist's time, is extremely low. What a democratic medium! Curator: So well put! And looking at it, one thinks… maybe it isn't about lawyers, devils, power, but about people observing each other and what we do with the systems we inherit. It's so alive. Editor: It shows me the possibilities embedded in art. How a single piece of paper can become the launching pad for challenging authority—for asking what and whom we are actually serving through social structures. It's also simply…really interesting!