Vrouw met waaier en man met hoed op een stoel in een menigte 1855 - 1913

Xavier Mellery’s etching presents a scene titled 'Woman with Fan and Man with Hat in a Crowd'. The composition is structured around a central square, densely filled with the dark, hatched lines that define the crowded space. The backs of a woman and a man dominate the foreground, their forms constructed through a play of light and shadow that gives them volume and presence. Mellery uses the etching technique to explore the contrast between order and chaos. The scene has a symmetry, yet the mass of figures blurs into a single, textured plane. The details of the crowd are hinted at, enough to convey a sense of bustling activity but indistinct enough to question individual identity within a social context. The artist seems to reflect Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra, where reality is replaced by representation. This piece challenges us to consider the role of the individual within the collective, inviting contemplation about the structures and patterns that define our experience of the world.