By the Window 1890 - 1891

Curator: Here we have Fritz von Uhde's "By the Window," painted between 1890 and 1891, now residing in the Städel Museum. What strikes you first about it? Editor: There's a palpable stillness. A figure stands with her back to us, almost swallowed by the soft light pouring through the window. It's an image filled with quiet contemplation and a sense of domestic labor. Curator: That quietude speaks volumes, especially considering Uhde’s broader body of work. He often depicted religious scenes with contemporary working-class figures. This painting, though seemingly secular, resonates with similar themes of everyday life and its inherent dignity. We see her standing in a domestic setting, a sewing machine rests idle on the table… Editor: It's fascinating how Uhde uses that machine to speak to production of garments at the time. Her dark coat is so central. You see the materials sitting there waiting, and the machine waiting for labour. The painting's focus is the materials; the painting quietly elevates them. Curator: Indeed. There is this undercurrent of the unseen work supporting society that the window illuminates here, not just of the working classes, but a woman's domestic and labor within the context of late 19th-century European society. The way the window frames her gaze gives off an almost impressionistic sense of seeing and experiencing something we're shut out from seeing, while bringing forward the role and reality of her day-to-day toil. Editor: I see that tension clearly in the composition and think that the open window suggests opportunity but in reality frames what’s still unseen, her reality of making garments. I'm wondering how it relates to contemporary craft movements too, if it shows off materials in this kind of style, or how mass production makes that difficult. Curator: The figure's engagement with her labor becomes almost a spiritual act, even as we see it here as part of the machinery of capitalism in her interior space. The tension really lies, then, between our understanding of its visual realism and historical framing against labor and societal factors that define her. Editor: Absolutely, looking closer, I think I appreciate that Uhde gives materiality this visibility; the figure’s positioning near the window really adds to the material value presented here and the layers in understanding Uhde’s piece. Curator: Yes. "By the Window" offers a compelling glimpse into a life of everyday life at that time and really causes the viewer to see material for all of its context and inherent properties, as well as the culture that supports their coming into being.