Aquarium met vissen 1876 - 1924

Editor: Here we have Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof’s "Aquarium met vissen," made sometime between 1876 and 1924. It's a drawing, a combination of pencil and ink on paper, currently held in the Rijksmuseum. The chaotic yet rhythmic strokes create such an energetic, restless atmosphere. What do you make of it? Curator: I think you're right about the energy. Dijsselhof’s "Aquarium with Fish" operates within a complex socio-political framework, really, if we look at the late 19th century. The popularization of aquariums coincided with increasing industrialization. Did keeping exotic fish in controlled environments become a kind of symbolic mastery over nature, a visual reassurance for a society grappling with unprecedented change? Editor: That’s a really interesting point! It hadn’t occurred to me to think about aquariums as reflecting larger societal anxieties and power structures. Is the impressionistic style significant here, too? Curator: Absolutely. The sketch-like quality challenges academic artistic norms, reflecting broader challenges to established institutions, like museums and salons. Consider also the implications of viewing these fish through glass; they're presented for observation, which turns into a method of social and artistic critique. It is really exciting how it uses nature, mediated and presented as culture to comment on culture itself. Editor: So, the artwork isn't just depicting an aquarium, but it’s actively questioning how we relate to nature and to each other in a rapidly changing world. Thank you, that has opened my eyes to so much more complexity! Curator: Exactly. And hopefully prompts us to reflect on how our modern aquariums reflect and shape our relationship to the natural world today.