Fotoreproductie van Troupeau sautant une barrière door Eugène Verboeckhoven before 1893

Editor: This is a reproduction, a photograph actually, of Eugène Verboeckhoven's "Troupeau sautant une barrière" - a herd jumping over a fence. It’s from before 1893 and housed at the Rijksmuseum. I’m immediately struck by how the monochromatic tones give it a timeless feel, almost like a faded memory. What nuances jump out at you when you view it? Curator: Oh, I love that faded memory impression! For me, it’s like stepping into a half-remembered dream of the countryside. You know, Verboeckhoven was famed for his animals, really made them the stars of the show. This scene is so lively. The energy of those horses leaping - can you almost feel the ground tremble? Editor: Definitely! There's so much implied motion captured in a still image. Was realism a popular style at the time? Curator: Very much so. It was a time when artists were turning away from romantic ideals and trying to depict the world as they saw it – raw, unfiltered. Think about the sheer number of details needed to create a semblance of realism, yet how, especially given the image quality, this escapes literal accuracy and ends up capturing more an essence, a general impression. You know? A paradox really! Editor: That’s a good point! It feels like an echo of reality, not reality itself. So, the limitations of photography perhaps played into its aesthetic? Curator: Precisely. It’s not just what’s depicted, but how it’s depicted. And sometimes, the flaws become the features. It reminds us that every image, every story, is filtered through a lens – be it glass, or memory. Editor: I see what you mean. Looking at it now, I think I’ll remember it as that fleeting moment between earth and air, between past and present. Curator: Wonderful! And for me, it’s a gentle reminder that even the most realistic image holds a world of poetry if we let it.