De plompetoren aan het Singel in Utrecht 1809 - 1843

Curator: This etching, "De plompetoren aan het Singel in Utrecht", dating from between 1809 and 1843, is the work of Cornelis van Hardenbergh. It resides here in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My goodness, that title just rolls off the tongue! But really, what a delightfully moody piece. I get a touch of melancholy from it. It looks as though it was a cloudy day. Curator: Note how the artist utilized etching techniques to achieve this romantic style. The density of line work and controlled applications creates varied tones. He’s recorded not just the architecture but its physical situation; it shows human use in all aspects of construction materials, use of watercraft. Editor: Right? It's almost tactile. You can practically feel the dampness of the stone. Did people really used to spend their afternoons near large, stony buildings? It reminds me of a book cover somehow. Curator: Romanticism often depicted urban and natural scenes and a specific fascination with architectural decay. Look closer and you see how social structures were shaped by landscapes and urban environments during that period. People interacting near old stonework-- that’s work and leisure intertwined. Editor: Mmm, I like your thinking, you can smell the production, the making... For me, that atmospheric quality overshadows a purely documentary reading. There's something almost dreamlike. I get a real sense of personal feeling emanating from this artwork, which invites contemplation. It also provides an unusual view of a regular old day back when! Curator: Ultimately, whether we look at process or feeling, Hardenbergh offers us a layered snapshot of urban life that acknowledges that labor and landscape mutually inform our perspectives. Editor: Exactly! Perhaps that melancholic feeling that touched me earlier now seems a touch more profound and a little bit more lived-in, and isn’t that really what all artworks should make us do in the end?