Luise Scholderer gemeinsam mit ihrem Sohn Victor in einem Buch lesend 

Curator: Here we see "Luise Scholderer with her son Victor Reading a Book," a pencil drawing by Otto Scholderer. The artwork is housed here at the Städel Museum. Editor: Oh, that's tender! It looks like a captured moment. I can almost hear the rustling of pages and a soft voice reading. There’s something so intimate about the way they're positioned together, heads bent over the same book. Curator: Absolutely. What I find compelling is Scholderer’s engagement with domesticity and the family. Look how reading becomes a shared activity. Notice too how gender roles and societal expectations are expressed, and indeed reinforced, through this seemingly candid snapshot. Editor: It also strikes me as wonderfully unposed. It's the opposite of a formal family portrait where everyone is stiff and starched. There’s a beautiful sketchiness that allows for spontaneity and honesty. You can feel the weight of a small arm draped around her shoulders. Curator: It does invite such observations, doesn't it? But consider the context. Scholderer, who, while respected, often faced an art world dominated by certain male artistic perspectives, was working to establish himself. Such artwork served to normalize and celebrate family as a value and therefore appeal to the public. Editor: Mmm. Well, yes. But as an artist, when I see this drawing, I get the sense that the book in her hands might just as well be a portal, connecting them, inviting reflection about lives beyond. I think it is much more universal. Curator: Art functions on many layers, it is true, which is what keeps it perpetually engaging, especially to new audiences coming to the Städel. Editor: Exactly, and from an artist’s perspective, this drawing feels timeless, and the simple tools the artist used -- pencil on paper -- speak so loudly about those eternal relationships of people, hearts, and stories shared.