Argumenterende mannen bij een biljarttafel 1913 - 1945

Editor: Here we have “Argumenterende mannen bij een biljarttafel” – Arguing Men at a Billiard Table – a pencil drawing by Henk Henriët, created sometime between 1913 and 1945. The sketchiness makes it feel unfinished, yet the figures are full of life, even theatrical. How do you read the symbolism in a piece like this? Curator: The upraised fist immediately grabs attention. In Western art, that’s loaded. What does that gesture evoke for you? Editor: Resistance, maybe? Power…but also potential violence? Curator: Exactly. And context matters. The image appears around the period encompassing two World Wars; this seemingly mundane scene of men around a billiards table transcends genre, turning into a symbol of social and political unrest. How do the other men factor into that reading? Editor: One's leaning in, seemingly engaged in the… argument? Debate? And the other is passive, almost as if to be saying "Here we go again..." Curator: It speaks volumes about the society’s mood during conflict and reconstruction. Even leisure, like a game of billiards, couldn’t escape the pervading tension and the pressing need for discussion, or, perhaps, protest. Does the simplicity of the medium – a humble pencil drawing – influence your interpretation at all? Editor: I think so, it's almost journalistic. Curator: Indeed. Stripped of colour, raw and immediate, as if urgently documenting a pivotal moment. It bridges the personal and the political, capturing the undercurrents of an era through everyday encounters. Editor: So it's not just men arguing in a billiard room, it’s a snapshot of a society grappling with its demons. Thanks, I'll definitely look at Henriët's work differently now. Curator: And hopefully see echoes of those tensions, arguments and resistances whenever you see a raised fist from now on!