Sloterdijck aent Schouw c. 17th century

Curator: Geertruydt Roghman, born in 1625, created this work, "Sloterdijck aent Schouw". It is an etching, a print, now residing in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a quiet stillness to it. The buildings, the figures... everything feels meticulously rendered, almost miniature. I am curious about the materials used. Curator: The printmaking process itself is interesting. Etching allowed for fine, detailed lines, crucial for capturing the architecture and the landscape. It became a popular, reproducible medium during a time of expanding urban centers. Editor: Precisely. Think about the materiality of the print itself. Paper, ink, the metal plate used for etching – all commodities within a developing capitalist system in the Netherlands. Curator: And the image is of Sloterdijck, a place, a community, represented in a way that speaks to its social and economic structures. We see people engaged in daily life. Editor: The workers, the buildings themselves... each constructed through labor. This landscape is not simply picturesque; it embodies processes of production. Curator: Roghman's view provides a snapshot into the visual culture, and how it reflected, and shaped, Dutch society in that era. Editor: Viewing it through the lens of labor and materials gives this seemingly simple print a complex socio-economic context. I am glad we discussed it.