Riedijkshaven in Dordrecht bij avond 1887 - 1889

Editor: Here we have Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande's "Riedijkshaven in Dordrecht bij avond", made between 1887 and 1889. It's an etching, a print, of a cityscape... There's a kind of misty quietness about it that I find appealing. What stands out to you? Curator: Oh, the mists of memory cling to this piece for me. The way the artist has captured the stillness of the evening, that whisper of light on the water... It almost feels like a forgotten dream. I wonder, do you get a sense of the artist lingering there, almost caressing the plate with his needle, chasing after the light? Editor: I see what you mean, the details in the water give a kind of a dreamlike state. It's interesting to think of the artist just standing and watching the Dordrecht harbor... Why this viewpoint? Why capture it using print? Curator: Perhaps it’s the timelessness of the scene he sought to capture. Etching immortalizes a fleeting moment. There’s also a melancholy woven through this work, I think. Do you see it in the masts, how they’re reaching, yearning towards the sky? It reminds me that everything beautiful is destined to fade. Editor: I see your point now! The "whisper of light", "masts reaching the sky"—all creating a sort of longing and the sense of beauty fading away. I will never look at an etching the same way. Thanks so much. Curator: My pleasure! Never stop searching for the stories whispering from the art, it's almost always worthwhile.