Peace, known as The King's Children c. 1899 - 1900

Editor: Here we have Matthijs Maris's "Peace, known as The King's Children", a drawing using pencil and charcoal from around 1899-1900. It's quite hazy, almost dreamlike, with figures barely discernible. What do you make of this work? Curator: Well, consider the material reality: graphite and charcoal, humble mediums, traditionally relegated to sketches, elevated here. Maris's hazy application challenges the valorization of oil painting in academic art, doesn’t it? Editor: I see what you mean. It almost feels unfinished, questioning the very notion of a "finished" artwork. Curator: Precisely! And consider the social context. Late 19th-century Symbolism critiqued industrialization, with artists often turning to mysticism. How might the blurred forms, the rejection of precise detail, speak to anxieties about mass production and the alienation of labor? Editor: So, it’s not just about depicting figures, but about the labor, the act of creating something that resists that industrialized precision. Curator: Yes. The drawing almost dematerializes before our eyes, defying the commodification inherent in the art market. Could it be a deliberate commentary on the artist's role in a rapidly changing society? Were those materials easy to come by in that time, or scarce and costly? Editor: I'd have to research the market for pencils and charcoal at that time... That's a very interesting point! I’ll certainly be looking at Maris's work, and other Symbolists, in a new light. Curator: The materials and the methods artists employ are so interwoven with the socio-economic conditions in which they operate. Art is, after all, labor represented materially.