Twee voorstellingen met dieren en mensen bij een veerpont en een ontsnapte stier 1828 - 1839

Curator: Looking at this print, a work rendered in ink on paper, you get the feeling Victor Adam really understood… the *frisson* of daily life. It's titled, rather literally, "Two scenes with animals and people at a ferry and an escaped bull" and dates back to somewhere between 1828 and 1839. What springs to mind for you? Editor: It’s really more of a diptych, isn’t it? The upper image is tranquil—a slow ferry crossing under a looming, slightly menacing windmill. It all seems ordered, in control. Then you look below, and chaos reigns: An enraged bull has obviously bolted, sending dogs, and a poor fellow waving his arms, into total disarray. Curator: Exactly. Adam captures such opposing human experiences within one frame—the controlled and the unhinged. And I can almost feel that moment of total panic when something goes wrong, right? It resonates even today. Like a metaphor for the delicate balance of order and pandemonium we exist in, on the daily. Editor: That bull... the lines around it just vibrate. It becomes a symbol of the untamed, the uncontrollable forces bubbling beneath the surface of polite society. That is Adam's way to play with the symbolic weight of certain subjects—for example the looming windmill speaks to human endeavor while at the same time is menancing... It could come tumbling down at any moment. Curator: I feel that. The upper image evokes a kind of sleepy control, a commerce dependent on natural rhythms. Below, however, that carefully constructed world is blown to bits by one rogue bovine! It's hilarious, but at the same time... I feel tense just looking at it, the anticipation, perhaps. It’s quite remarkable that Adam caught that with simple engravings. Editor: Engravings are wonderful story-telling devices—accessible art for a wider audience, which heightens its role in shaping collective visual narratives, no? Even without text, these images become mini-allegories—control versus chaos, rural routine disrupted by animal instinct… layers within layers. Curator: And to consider how it still touches a nerve so many years on…it feels fresh still, it's great work! A reminder to savor calm when we find it, I think! Editor: And be ready for anything! Absolutely, this speaks to how carefully selected visual symbols can shape our perception of daily existence for a very long time.