Twee mannen volgen het bevel van een derde op om een in lakens gewikkeld lijk in het kanaal te gooien 1842

Curator: What a chilling piece. This is Gustave Buschmann's "Twee mannen volgen het bevel van een derde op om een in lakens gewikkeld lijk in het kanaal te gooien," a pencil drawing from 1842. The title is a mouthful, but the scene is incredibly direct. Editor: It certainly is... dark. There's a grittiness to the rendering, a real sense of the rough texture of the paper and the almost desperate application of the pencil. It feels rushed, unfinished. Curator: Buschmann positions the act within a clear power dynamic, we can read it within a structure that considers themes of exploitation. The central figure gives an order to dispose of a body—a grim scene reflecting the darker undercurrents of Romanticism in the 19th century. It forces a conversation about class and complicity. Editor: It's interesting you bring up the socio-political aspect. What I see is an almost visceral connection to the act itself, to the weight of the shrouded body. The labor here is front and center—the actual process of lifting and disposing is the subject. The lack of embellishment directs our focus to the sheer physicality of what's happening. Curator: That's fair. Though it's impossible to ignore the theatrical pose of the figure giving the order. Look at the garb—ostentatious compared to the two struggling with the body. What narrative does it spin about agency and who gets to act, or rather, who gets to avoid the physical implications of their actions? Editor: Agreed. But the very making of it intrigues me, those rapid pencil strokes; this wasn’t created with the leisure of oil painting. The accessibility of the medium underlines a different kind of value. Its immediate nature allows the creation of such an affecting narrative on simple paper and pencil. Curator: The beauty of art, it is simultaneously process and discourse. Buschmann hands us a stark depiction and, despite the simple execution, challenges us to analyze our place in these complicated webs of power. Editor: Yes, and as such the social commentary is stark; the medium is not precious, disposable even; just as those ordered to act have been deemed disposable by their 'superior' in the drama playing out on the canal steps. The rawness adds impact.