Vissers op de Lek bij het dorp Tuil 1758 - 1815

Editor: Here we have Nicolaas Wicart's "Fishermen on the Lek River near the village of Tuil," a drawing with ink and watercolor on paper, made sometime between 1758 and 1815. It feels like a very pragmatic image; the workers dominate the composition. What stands out to you in this piece? Curator: What I find particularly compelling is how this work encapsulates the relationship between labor, landscape, and materiality. Consider the context: Dutch Golden Age art often idealized landscapes, but here, the fishing process and its equipment are prominent. Note the fisherman's gear rendered with such care. Editor: You mean that the artist chose not to omit evidence of the act of labor? Curator: Precisely. The artist deliberately depicts labor as a material reality within this river scene. Ask yourself what sort of commentary he might be making about labor and commerce. We need to consider where he acquired the pigments and paper used to create this landscape. Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered that even landscape art is involved in circuits of materials. Curator: Think of how those activities are embedded in a whole social and economic system. Fishing isn't just an isolated action, just as the pigment is not only 'colour'. What is being brought into visibility, and what remains unseen in its making? Editor: So looking closely at the materiality invites us to think about the social conditions in which the drawing was produced, not just what it represents. Curator: Precisely! It pushes us to challenge any idea of a purely aesthetic experience and consider the complex material networks that underpin even a seemingly simple scene. Editor: I see this drawing with completely different eyes now. Thanks to you, I'm going to start considering art with materiality. Curator: An essential step, and a lens to re-evaluate the familiar and the unrecognized aspects.