Rotspartij in een aquarium, met kleurnotities 1876 - 1924

Curator: Right now, we’re looking at Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof’s intriguing pencil and ink drawing, “Rotspartij in een aquarium, met kleurnotities," which translates to "Rocks in an aquarium, with color notes," dating from the period 1876 to 1924. It resides here in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It feels… underwater. The sketchy lines make me think of the blurred movement of things shifting in water. A dreamlike grotto. Curator: It’s fascinating how Dijsselhof merges natural and artificial environments. By placing rocks within an aquarium, he’s reframing our relationship with nature. It makes me consider how we, as a society, curate and confine nature for our own observation, often stripping away its inherent wildness. What does it say about us? Editor: Ooh, that's heavy! I was just thinking about how relaxing it feels to look at an aquarium. But you're right, there's something unsettling about putting nature behind glass. It's like we want to possess it, to control it, to… sterilize it, somehow? I suppose it could comment on humanity’s need to put a frame around everything, even what is naturally in flux. Curator: Exactly! And the inclusion of "color notes" in the title—despite the monochrome medium—further complicates this act of framing. Dijsselhof encourages us to think about perception, the elusiveness of capturing true color, the mutability of form. What might this suggest about our own subjective interpretations? Editor: It is weird! Black and white aquarium with "color notes"! Like, were these scribbles studies for another, lost painting? It does make you think about what isn't here as much as what is, and the dialogue of both presence and absence. Curator: Precisely. And beyond that, how often do we impose our own chromatic "notes" onto the world around us, selectively filtering experiences through our own biases? Editor: Deep stuff! Now I need to go stare at some real fish in an aquarium…maybe. With a newfound appreciation and a little guilt. Curator: Indeed. Dijsselhof offers us more than just a simple sketch, instead a profound reflection on nature, control, and perception.