Weegschaal met 'zwarte' bankbiljetten 1945 - 1947

Frits Lemaire created this black and white photograph entitled 'Scale with 'black' banknotes' sometime during his career. The work confronts the viewer with an unsettling still life: a stack of Dutch hundred-guilder notes, emblazoned with the image of a fair skinned woman, rests on the scale's platform. In post-war Netherlands, the term "black money" often alluded to funds circulating outside the formal economy, sometimes associated with illegal or morally questionable activities. This photograph invites us to consider the complex relationship between money, morality, and visibility. Does the weight of the money on the scale symbolize a burden of guilt or responsibility? Is Lemaire commenting on how wealth can obscure ethical considerations? The artist’s choice to photograph the banknotes in black and white may be symbolic of his views. Lemaire compels us to consider the ethical dimensions of wealth.