Zeiltocht van Willem V en Wilhelmina van Pruisen op het IJ, 1768 1769 - 1773

Curator: Let's consider this print, "Zeiltocht van Willem V en Wilhelmina van Pruisen op het IJ, 1768," dating from 1769-1773 by Simon Fokke. It's currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My goodness, it feels incredibly formal, almost oppressively so! The line of expectant onlookers creates an air of restrained anticipation that tickles my imagination. It really does make me curious as to the process by which Fokke has chosen to create a scene so rich and brimming with activity using merely the method of engraving. Curator: Fokke, working primarily with engravings, taps into the material realities of 18th-century Dutch printmaking. His choice of medium makes this image accessible, not just to the elite, but also to the burgeoning middle class eager for images of their rulers. Editor: But what do you make of all that gun smoke over there in the harbor? Surely there had to be far easier ways of signaling "bon voyage!" I detect an element of almost militaristic enthusiasm for this couple! What does this tell us about how the artist perhaps viewed the scene or what feelings he was perhaps trying to instill within viewers? Curator: That element of celebration certainly reveals how power was performed and consumed in Dutch society. Consider the physical act of engraving itself: the labor, the skill required to translate such a grand event into a reproducible image...it all speaks to the construction of authority and legitimacy through art. Editor: It also gives me food for thought that through this, Willem and Wilhelmina had to give explicit permissions and considerations into this artist using their image for printing. These actions go to show how in one sense, while power and prestige could be created and communicated through art, their figures are also potentially vulnerable. Is it too outlandish to suggest this as another means to access and comprehend power more broadly as a result? Curator: A fair point. As for what this teaches us today, perhaps this offers a view to understanding that even mass produced artworks play a part in defining society at large. They were at their very essence documents, ones that spoke about society. Editor: Indeed! I suppose it is just another demonstration of just how incredibly art may offer up hidden secrets if we just dedicate a moment to wonder…