Susanne 1906

Curator: We're looking at "Susanne" by Oluf Hartmann, created around 1906. It's a small graphic work combining aquatint and etching, held here at the SMK. The piece depicts a group of figures supporting what appears to be a woman. Editor: My first impression? It feels claustrophobic, almost suffocating. The figures are so intertwined, and that muted palette just adds to the intensity. It makes me feel like I'm looking at some illicit gathering, and makes my skin crawl slightly! Curator: Hartmann, of course, came from a privileged background, deeply ingrained within artistic circles. Understanding his social milieu highlights a context ripe with late Symbolist undertones and an exploration of anxieties and erotic tension, a fascination with the primitive. This small etching presents such thematic threads—its materials allow for intricate detailing and atmospheric tonal gradations that accentuate a certain discomfort. Editor: I feel that. It’s like they are trapped. Those bodies – all squashed together and struggling under an unknown burden. I mean, who even *is* Susanne? Is she a victim, is she being rescued, or carried away against her will? Curator: It invites such questions, doesn’t it? Hartmann’s exploration through these etching and aquatint techniques involved considerable skill, layering, biting into the metal plate with acid... the means through which he constructs his image, his figures, reflects the laborious nature of creative production itself, connecting artistic creation with bodily engagement. Editor: There's a kind of dreamlike quality in the way the light is handled – like it's underwater almost. Also, I can almost feel the grit and resistance of that etched plate underneath my fingertips. I have no clue what they are actually doing, but wow it holds you. It is raw in its own strange and off-putting way. Curator: I see the labor imbued, literally pressed onto the plate itself! Examining the technical labor gives a deeper understanding of the historical artistic processes...and the gender dynamics inherent at this cultural moment. Editor: It's interesting how a piece, crafted through such meticulous, almost industrial, processes, can still retain such a visceral, personal punch. This little plate of squashed bodies has given me a lot to think about! Curator: Agreed! Reflecting on Hartmann's choice of etching and aquatint highlights how his material choices align with deeper thematic considerations on body, labor and image-making itself.