Reproductie van een prent van een boer en boerinnen aan de keukentafel te Hindeloopen before 1883

Curator: So, here we are before an old print. Editor: Right! This is a reproduction of an image showing a farmer and farmers’ wives around the kitchen table in Hindeloopen. It dates to before 1883, by Emile Aubry. It gives off a very intimate and serene feeling. What's your interpretation of this family scene? Curator: Oh, isn't it delicious, this little peep into a quiet domestic sphere? What gets me is the feeling of shared space, quiet communion around the humble stuff of daily life. We could just say genre painting, or historical painting, but I wonder if it doesn't offer a bit more than that. Have you considered that what is happening is some type of transaction? Editor: Transaction? That’s an interesting way to put it! It seemed more like quiet connection. Curator: Precisely! But the interesting part comes in noticing all that connection—there must have been some implicit economy, both fiscal, and spiritual, at work within such a community. I'm thinking the figures huddle together not just for warmth and for each other but possibly negotiating community affairs, like what the community will do together. It might not come out to our eyes on first glance, but I am intrigued! What do you suppose ties all the people together, here? Editor: Hmmm. I hadn't thought of it like that. But it really shows that even the simplest-seeming art can have many layers. I'm going to rethink how I see such everyday scenes! Curator: Isn’t that just what we all could wish for? Seeing the invisible architecture of simple beauty, is perhaps all the reason we would need.