Verliefd jong stel 1880

Curator: This is “Verliefd jong stel,” or “Young Couple in Love,” an engraving by Fritz Dinger, made in 1880. It's currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: It strikes me as overwhelmingly sentimental. The bare feet, the gentle embrace… there's a calculated sweetness to it, wouldn't you agree? Curator: Perhaps, but look at the precise execution. The textures Dinger achieves through engraving are quite remarkable. Consider the folds of the boy’s tunic versus the smooth planes of his face. The interplay of light and shadow constructs the meaning here. Editor: Meaning always comes back to making! And look, those barefoot children speak of labor—no shoes means this pair isn't meant for leisure. Engraving itself is painstaking, artisanal work that demands skilled labor to disseminate ideas of romance to a wide audience. Curator: Yes, but observe how their placement within the landscape elevates their bond. Dinger positions them on the cusp of nature, at the threshold of what we would today perhaps read as 'experience'. The composition, almost symmetrically halved between the figures and the scenery, serves to visually narrate their merging identities. Editor: The printing process fascinates me, more than their budding romance. Replicated impressions offer mass production, but each sheet varies ever so slightly depending on how Dinger and his team manipulate the ink, the pressure, the biting acids. We see Dinger attempting, though mechanical reproduction, a truth. Curator: In this artwork, Dinger presents an idealized form. An interpretation of romance. A commentary on narrative and genre that fits neatly within romanticism. Editor: So this idyllic image actually comes down to labor—from the printing studio to the subjects whose bare feet tie them to an inescapable connection to manual work and the reality it entails! Curator: Very insightful. It offers another point of view through which to view this work and perhaps deepen our comprehension of art. Editor: Indeed, I can feel it shifting something in my understanding.