Interieur van taveerne met een groep rond een tafel, bij nacht 1651

Curator: Editor: So, we're looking at "Interior of a Tavern with a Group Around a Table, at Night," a drawing in ink on paper by Harmen ter Borch, dating back to 1651. The scene is so subdued, rendered mostly in monochrome, and the architecture so minimal. What strikes you about it? Curator: What I find fascinating is how ter Borch uses such limited material – ink on paper – to depict a whole social scene, even attempting to show nighttime illumination. Do you think it presents us with a "slice of life" from the time? Or, something more mediated? Consider the material cost, even then, of ink and paper for drawings, and how those were manufactured. Editor: Well, it’s genre painting, so, depicting everyday life of the period… But the ink drawing aesthetic feels like a study, or perhaps a quick documentation, before committing to a larger, more "permanent" oil on canvas format. So in effect, would that make the labour input less for studies on paper? Curator: Interesting, less in one respect, more in others. Oil paint could often be ordered from colourmen, or even made in workshops by apprentices; but who processed the ink, ground the pigments, prepared the paper supports? How did *their* labour influence this final representation? Did ter Borch engage directly in its making? Editor: Right, the division of labour, who did what tasks and who benefited… The drawing definitely gives the impression of capturing a candid moment, although now it seems heavily mediated by production considerations. Curator: Exactly! And considering its preservation in the Rijksmuseum, it's undergone its own transformation, moving from functional sketch, to aesthetic commodity. The tavern patrons may be long gone, but here we are, still examining ter Borch's depiction. Editor: Thinking about how its made definitely shifts your perspective on what the work *is*. Curator: Precisely. Material concerns reframe our encounter.