Man wordt wakker van vlieg en jaagt hem weg 1864 - 1902

Curator: Looking at this drawing, rendered in pencil by Jeremias Adriaan Adolf Schill, and titled "Man wordt wakker van vlieg en jaagt hem weg", dated from 1864 to 1902 and currently held in the Rijksmuseum, one cannot help but feel a sense of... annoyance? Editor: Annoyance indeed. It’s almost slapstick. Two quick scenes etched onto the paper, one right after the other, to tell the story. A man, rudely awakened, now determined to get rid of that irritating fly. Simple stuff. I’m thinking of the actual material, though—pencil on paper—what does that say about accessibility of art, the disposability even, in comparison to an oil on canvas, which this scene could have become. Curator: Yes, but within those humble materials lies a story that resonates through time. The fly is no mere fly; it represents the relentless disturbances of the everyday, the invasion of the mundane into our moments of peace. It’s a universal symbol of irritation and disrupted sleep, rendered as pure narrative through these scenes. And then note his defiant, almost comical stance in the second panel... Editor: And that defiance probably didn't come cheap! Paper was manufactured, transported, sold... and that pencil itself—the graphite mined, shaped, marketed. This seemingly simple drawing depended on a network of industry and commerce. Who was this intended for? Was it mass-produced? Curator: Good point. Perhaps, but what stays with me is the psychological dimension, and I read here the struggle against unseen irritants. I’m thinking about what is hidden behind closed doors, this hidden moment is quite psychological in how it shows an inner response made visible and exterior. The pose, almost aggressive is just a perfect snapshot of that irate feeling when just awaken and annoyed! Editor: Right. Still, look at that bedside table—what’s on it? A candlestick? And that heavy washbowl with a pitcher. Those everyday items, rendered so meticulously, really anchor us in a specific material culture. It points to the time-bound aspect, when we still lack what makes that bedside experience more frictionless: what would have looked radically different would be an Ipad, instead of those older daily objects. Curator: Perhaps Schill intended for us to remember our present when seeing that past scenario of that "eternal" nuisance. This ordinary subject takes us on a path for memory, identity and experience beyond time itself! Editor: Well, regardless, Schill successfully depicted a universal struggle using very specific, and very grounded, tools. Something undeniably charming and resonant in that dichotomy.