Diverse bloemen 1820 - 1833

Curator: Immediately, it strikes me as terribly sweet, terribly Victorian somehow, although there is something rather stern underneath it all, don't you think? A sort of melancholy... perhaps the very formal arrangement? Editor: This captivating drawing, rendered in pencil between 1820 and 1833, is called "Diverse bloemen". It currently resides in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. And I completely agree about the inherent sweetness that you find so interesting in it, but to me its melancholy feel evokes something far more meaningful. Curator: Oh, do tell! Editor: The arrangement, you see, has an unmistakable symbolic language. A floral arrangement in Romanticism is never just "a bunch of flowers". Take, for example, the presence of the peony; a bold central bloom, symbolizing romantic love. And what is the romantic love but one possible antidote to melancholia? I find it is far more intimate than any formal declaration. Curator: The artist was Anton Weiss, so a name sadly unknown to many. You are right—it definitely brings together the conventional, like that rather overblown peony, and, next to it, this wild tangle, a yearning for something perhaps unattainable? Perhaps that is where the melancholia really creeps in. Editor: Precisely, this contrast amplifies its message. Floral works served often as meditations on life and death and of beauty in a state of gentle decay. And, as such, as expressions of an almost conscious sentimental understanding. The entire image space, composition, and drawing skill set point to something similar. But its execution does evoke that tender romanticism, so specific for that period in Europe! Curator: Looking at it now, there is almost a photographic quality to it. Given the period, it anticipates later sensibilities. Anton Weiss did something exceptional with pencil here. But in a more intimate manner, and that might actually allow me to understand why I think it has such an emotionally direct impact. Editor: Well, that is a quite fascinating interpretation, I might add, for our listeners to think about as they move to the next artwork. It offers much to admire beyond initial impressions, right? Curator: Exactly.