Traveler Talking with Family in Kitchen n.d.

Curator: Here we have "Traveler Talking with Family in Kitchen," a work by Jacobus Smies. It’s currently undated but held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: Oh, this has a really touching, understated beauty! It feels…intimate and a little melancholy, like a scene glimpsed in a dream. So muted. Curator: The drawing incorporates a blend of watercolor, ink, chalk, and charcoal on paper, which speaks to both the availability of these media to the artist and the probable costs. Given Smies’ Dutch origins, one wonders how available all these were... and perhaps some were not his local choices, but travel finds? Editor: The traveler, the central figure, heavily laden with belongings, is such a curious and captivating element! He seems burdened, almost, but the family—gathered around what looks like a baby in a cradle—radiates a certain warmth. I keep noticing details, like the hanging plates, which gives this such a tangible domestic feel. It is as if a specific stage has been constructed for these family actors to inhabit. Curator: Absolutely! The drawing encapsulates the genre scene well, with specific attention paid to elements of everyday life, like those hanging plates. This artwork speaks to the significance of those small objects in the formation of family relationships, even under potentially unstable economic circumstances for this specific genre painter, such as war. Editor: Do you think there is more happening? To me, the lighting plays a huge role in the atmosphere—soft, diffuse, yet casting subtle shadows. And consider what else can’t be shown to us--I keep wondering about the stories of everyone involved: the baby in its little cradle; the one arriving or going; that old lady peering over--this image seems just pregnant with them all. Curator: Exactly! We’re compelled to engage in speculation surrounding domestic duties and how this specific family may experience this individual traveling from or to that location as shown. Editor: So, what stays with you after this encounter? For me, it's this really heartfelt quality, a feeling of life’s joys and sorrows being interwoven together in such a touching way. Curator: For me, it reinforces how artists engage with everyday realities using what means and materials are on hand and can become a beautiful, quiet form of communication.