Landskab, i forgrunden en kvinde med hund 1630 - 1705

Editor: Here we have Adriaen van der Kabel’s etching, “Landskab, i forgrunden en kvinde med hund” – or "Landscape, in the foreground a woman with dog" created sometime between 1630 and 1705. It's currently held at the SMK in Copenhagen. What strikes me most is the almost dreamlike quality, created by the meticulously etched details, from the leaves on the trees to the distant mountains. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: Ah, yes, a Van der Kabel! For me, it’s the layering that whispers secrets. Notice how the foreground, alive with pastoral scenes of everyday life, subtly contrasts with the imagined distant city. Does it seem realistic to you or a tapestry of blended memories? Editor: That’s a beautiful way to put it—a tapestry of blended memories. I hadn't considered that. The imagined city definitely makes it feel less like a simple landscape and more of a symbolic world. But what was Kabel trying to tell us? Curator: Maybe he isn't *telling* us anything but offering us a stage. This era was rife with exploration, literally and figuratively, as artists used landscapes not just to depict places but to express new understandings of the world – an early form of world-building if you like! What's your reading of the woman and her dog? What part do they play for you? Editor: They definitely humanize it. Without them, it would just be a pretty picture, but with them, there's a story—a journey of sorts. So it seems the baroque landscapes were an ideal stage to question reality and what lies beyond. Thanks so much for shedding light on this print! Curator: And thank you. I find that by digging deeper into works of art, they tell something new to each one of us.