De Smaak 1670 - 1713

Curator: Ah, there's "De Smaak," or "Taste," an engraving by Pieter Schenk, dating from 1670 to 1713. It currently resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Whew, what a character! My first impression? Unrefined. It’s as if a rogue walked straight out of a rowdy tavern scene and decided to pose for a portrait after one too many drinks. That leering grin and raised glass are quite something. Curator: Exactly! It’s meant to be a caricature, capturing a… less than flattering representation of taste. Though taste here isn’t just about flavor. Think of the period's societal obsession with distinguishing high and low culture. Editor: The materials used in making prints at this time--copperplates, acids for etching--speak to a different sort of alchemy than the delicate ingredients he’s presumably about to quaff. The labour! The sheer effort! All to depict this… visage. What a paradox! Curator: Precisely, the act of consuming becomes this… grotesque display, which could suggest social satire or perhaps simply an honest reflection of everyday life, rendered so effectively with those fine lines characteristic of engravings. Editor: Right! Every single mark must have been intentionally etched. Each shade is carefully plotted to showcase class and attitude, as seen from the point of the materials themselves and their transformation in the workshop. Did Schenk mix his own etching solutions, I wonder? Curator: Probably, since back then printmaking wasn't just art; it was craft and commerce intermingled. This era saw artists acting also as merchants, distributing and selling their own work at markets. Considering his subject is about to imbibe, he is probably selling cheap liquor prints. Editor: In truth, despite my initial reaction, Schenk, or at least his engraver's tools, coaxed surprising complexity and character. Those cross-hatchings make this character's expression, though off-putting, somehow quite inviting. Curator: And, after our brief, somewhat…spirited discussion, perhaps we have captured just a little bit more of this intriguing tension. Editor: Indeed, it seems 'Taste' leaves anything but a tasteless impression!