Achteromkijkende naakten en hond before 2002

Curator: Here we have Aat Verhoog's print, "Achteromkijkende naakten en hond," which translates to "Looking Back Nudes and Dog," created before 2002. It's an ink print on paper, and currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. What's your initial take? Editor: My first thought is that this print feels like a dream. It's unsettling and lovely at the same time. The combination of nudes, flying cherubs, and… is that a fluffy dog staring into an empty room? It’s a bit much but in a beautiful way, almost theatrical. Curator: Absolutely, I'd say there is definitely a tension between the classical nude form, and then this kind of disruption of pictorial space with floating cherubs, and the inclusion of a dog within what seems to be a liminal or staged scene. I wonder if Verhoog is interrogating the male gaze by positioning these figures as both observed and observing. Editor: I like that a lot. Observed and observing… yes. And that single dog—totally calm, facing a blank canvas. I think Verhoog’s pointing towards that quiet internal experience in art making itself—a focus without the presence of other people. I keep wanting to laugh; it’s slightly absurd but deeply knowing at the same time. Curator: The use of this collage aesthetic definitely adds another layer of meaning. It reminds me a little bit of David Hockney in the way Verhoog creates this playful sense of disorientation, which prompts viewers to ask where one space ends and another begins. This allows for commentary about sexuality, perspective, and societal expectations, all folded within a relatively small artwork. Editor: Right! All those things! This print feels almost intentionally disjointed. The dark, abstract shading is jarring to the composition, then we find roses at the corners and you ask: how is it all connected? Maybe it is only dream logic holding it together. It kind of reminds me that even reality is a construction we agree on. Curator: I think that's a very salient reading of Verhoog's intent. It certainly seems as though Verhoog wants us to reconsider the very structures that hold the world together by placing familiar icons against unexpected juxtapositions, almost poking at us with a very subtle, mischievous sensibility. Editor: Exactly, so with that I feel slightly unsettled but more fully awake somehow. Art should feel alive like that; you look and something changes within yourself.