Duivenhuis in Artis 1835 - 1904

Curator: It feels… wistful. Like a memory, fading a little at the edges. The light, especially, is so soft. Editor: This is “Duivenhuis in Artis” or "Pigeon House in Artis," by Willem Hekking Jr., likely created sometime between 1835 and 1904. The Rijksmuseum holds it in its collection. It’s a drawing; watercolor and pencil on paper. Curator: It’s funny, I immediately zoom in on the two women in the foreground, but the building is clearly meant to be the focal point. And it is odd, that building! A whimsical tower added to an otherwise quite plain structure. The building looks rather haunted to me; would you agree? Editor: In a way, yes. Its charm really hinges on its historical and social context. Artis, you see, was Amsterdam’s first zoo, founded in 1838. Places like Artis embodied 19th-century ideals of progress and offered the public access to scientific knowledge. Depicting this structure provided insight into new attitudes toward public education and the rise of leisure culture. Curator: Public education as entertainment! Fascinating, but what about the artistic intent? I wonder if Hekking was simply capturing a charming architectural detail, or if he saw the pigeon house as symbolic. Perhaps of domesticity taking flight, quite literally? Editor: Interesting idea! I see it reflecting the broader cultural landscape. Zoos were a place where the rising middle class could both relax and perform their social standing. The delicate watercolor, typical of plein-air landscape work, speaks to the accessibility of art and culture during this time, meant to record a very modern, vibrant, public space. Curator: So, we've got a pretty, faded watercolor holding, a symbol for an age just bursting with its newfound pastimes and educational opportunities. Still makes me think the artist saw something ghostly about it even as a contemporary structure, an awareness of time slipping through the bars. Editor: Perhaps. Or perhaps he appreciated that Amsterdam was starting to define itself as a modern European capital. What do you make of it after our chat? Curator: Still dreamy. The socio-political framework definitely adds another layer to the romanticism! Thank you for sharing this new perspective with me.