Twee studies van een zittende vrouw met baby 1869 - 1941

Editor: Here we have Johannes Abraham Mondt’s "Twee studies van een zittende vrouw met baby," made sometime between 1869 and 1941 using pencil. It feels like a very intimate, personal moment captured in these sketches. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, it’s more than just an intimate scene. Look at the stark simplicity of the lines. This work can be interpreted as a quiet resistance to the idealized, often unattainable, portrayals of motherhood that were so dominant in that era. Editor: Resistance? How so? Curator: Consider the time. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw very specific, restrictive roles imposed on women, particularly mothers. Mondt offers something different. He presents everyday domesticity, perhaps subtly undermining those prescribed ideals through his realistic depiction of the mother and child, removed from any romanticization. The hurried, almost nervous linework, lends it a vulnerable, authentic quality, wouldn't you agree? Editor: I see what you mean! The sketching style does feel very honest and unfiltered. It is not trying to be perfect, as if the artist is capturing a lived reality. Curator: Exactly. Now, consider what it means to show such vulnerability in a society that demands perfection from mothers. Is it simply a drawing, or a statement? How does the act of sketching, rather than a more polished painting, play into this potential statement? Editor: It adds to that sense of immediacy, a rawness. It definitely makes you think about the unspoken realities of motherhood beyond the pretty pictures. Thanks, I will definitely consider that context!