Figuren bij een waterval 1673 - 1695

Curator: There's a stillness to this engraving; I immediately think of long afternoons spent watching water tumble down rocks, doesn't it have that quality? Editor: It does invite quiet contemplation. This is "Figuren bij een waterval," or "Figures by a Waterfall," by Nicolas Perelle, dating back to the late 17th century. You'll find this Baroque beauty tucked away here at the Rijksmuseum. It's crafted from etching, a delicate and detailed process. Curator: Etching gives it this fantastic dreamlike quality, right? Everything's present, yet distant. And look at the way he's handled the figures... they almost seem secondary to the landscape itself, like an afterthought of life around this monumental wonder of nature. What exactly would you call it? I suppose genre-painting... Editor: Yes, certainly a work infused with a spirit of genre painting! It feels like an advertisement of labor set within in idyllic nature, as the working class seems integrated with the scenery, and adds scale to the work as a whole. Take a look at the trees - look at the ways their placement adds volume to the upper quadrant of the image. It also seems Perelle wasn't as interested in these figures, their bodies are rendered with simple geometries. Curator: You are right... and that interplay of human and natural element—is very telling, the sublime scale is so obvious. I'm pulled by the texture of that etching; can't you just feel the crisp coolness of the air near the waterfall? Almost like a sensory memory kicking in! Editor: I do notice the focus on production here. Etching allowed for replicability, and so works like these, circulated widely, normalized an idealized image of labor to the general public, the way that the water streams through, we consume this art almost passively. How could one feel removed from this reality of production! Curator: Precisely! And beyond just circulation, the labor of making the work becomes more of an intentional element to be valued. Editor: Well said, its a reflection on material as much as landscape... a reminder of art's connection to the working world around it! Curator: And what better world than one where nature sings as we work!