Rustend model in het atelier 1886

Curator: The textures here are just stunning. This is an etching by Auguste Danse from 1886, titled "Rustend model in het atelier," currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The use of etching to depict this intimate scene, a resting model in the artist's studio, is striking. Editor: There’s a contemplative stillness about it. The model seems lost in thought, a far cry from the often performative nature of posing. You immediately sense a shared intimacy in this private moment in this shadowy, quiet interior. Curator: Precisely. Danse captures a realism that diverges from purely idealized forms, hinting at the model's own internal landscape. Consider the objects surrounding her – canvases, artist’s tools – all echoing her momentary stillness within this artistic crucible. Note the prevalence of vertical forms - easels, perhaps other drawings? The overall affect is, to me, is one of aspiration. Editor: I see the vertical elements, but also a starkness, don’t you think? The contrast between the light catching the model's face and the dark recesses of the studio feels symbolic. It evokes a sense of the precariousness of the artist's life in the late 19th century – the struggle for recognition, the dance between light and shadow both literal and metaphorical. Curator: It is more layered than just 'precariousness,' I would say. While that interpretation aligns with the romanticized notion of the struggling artist, I think Danse might be exploring the symbiotic relationship between artist and model, and her emotional connection to this model and to her space. The inclusion of her face makes that quite explicit to me, and therefore transcends that particular historical reading, Editor: Interesting. And in considering its impact, it also shows the development and formalization of genre painting. I hadn't thought of it quite that way... Seeing this within the Rijksmuseum gives it context – a study, a pause, which might then connect to another artwork... Curator: Yes, it is this piece, the ability to freeze an instance that suggests not one single meaning but rather it opens many possibilities for our thoughts and experiences, a great representation of that particular period and beyond.