Flankeur der O.Indische Infanterie 1835 - 1850

Curator: I'm struck immediately by the almost mournful stillness of this fellow. Editor: Indeed, this is "Flankeur der O.Indische Infanterie," a drawing attributed to Albertus Verhoesen, dating from 1835 to 1850. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. A rendering of a soldier, quite precisely detailed in pencil and ink. Curator: There’s a sense of the delicate fragility to the whole thing. The colors are so muted; even his uniform seems more suggestion than solid form. It feels dreamlike, yet anchored by that stark, upright pose. Editor: Consider the material conditions of its production, though. Pencil and ink; readily portable tools suggesting a need for efficient representation. It speaks to the rise of pictorial documentation amidst Dutch colonial expansion. We're not simply looking at a soldier, but at a technology of imperial observation. Curator: Yes, but doesn't it hint at something more? The way he grips his weapon, a subtle tension. It’s not celebratory; it's waiting. A quiet moment laden with implication, no glory, only duty etched upon his very frame. One could almost believe it wasn't for duty. Editor: And how are we to disentangle duty from the demands of power in that era? These costumes, even in sketched form, reflect a whole machinery of dress codes and regulation intended to turn men into compliant units. Verhoesen’s detail underscores a calculated choreography, more rigid than heroic. Curator: Perhaps. Still, art has this magic way of imbuing objects, even a simple soldier, with complex depth. To focus purely on colonial apparatus, while undoubtedly relevant, seems almost… well, soulless! Editor: I understand the desire for more but if it were more dramatic then it would lose what the materiality represents for the production value during that historical time frame. Curator: It does give one pause, to consider the dual aspects—duty and dream— woven into the existence of the Flankeur. Thank you. Editor: Indeed, it highlights art's entanglement within webs of social and material production, no less significant for being expressed with what seems so sparely drawn.