Regnskab 1847 1847

Curator: Here we have Martinus Rørbye's "Regnskab 1847," created in 1847 using a mix of ink, drawing, and other media on paper. It is held at the SMK, Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: It looks like a page taken straight from an old ledger. All that spidery handwriting is incredibly dense and creates a real sense of impenetrable order. Curator: It is indeed an account ledger! Rørbye, best known for his paintings of architecture and daily life, particularly during his travels, meticulously recorded his finances. This ledger gives us an incredibly intimate look into the economic realities of an artist in 19th-century Denmark. Editor: Absolutely, and this goes beyond mere facts and figures. Think about what this represents: The mundane transactions of a working artist in the mid-19th century. It's a radical democratization of what we consider worthy of preservation, showing us the socioeconomic context influencing his artworks, as opposed to only depicting them. Curator: It's important to consider that even simple record-keeping becomes a social practice in its own right. Whose expenses get recorded, in what way, with what detail, and ultimately who gets access to this record? Editor: True. It is interesting that this accounting book would now reside in the hallowed halls of the Statens Museum for Kunst; how its symbolic function as a document transformed by art institutional structures says something profound about social values in general. Curator: The materiality too, of the drawing— the feel of the paper, the fade of the ink —all that speak volumes about time. The ledger makes me wonder if these entries directly correlate with the creation of specific artworks from that period. Did a particular sale fund a trip, a painting, new materials? Editor: Exactly. It pulls back the curtain and reveals the often-unacknowledged economics driving artistic creation. Curator: Indeed. I find it inspiring that what we see in this page has become something valuable and meaningful, now safely preserved for future visitors. Editor: This everyday record serves to show us that everything is contingent, historical, and worthy of analysis, so thank you, Martinus Rørbye, for showing us what it truly meant to be you and your economics back then.