Kasteel van Montjardin aan de Amblève 1846 - 1878

Félix de Baerdemaecker made this drawing of the Kasteel van Montjardin aan de Amblève with graphite. Imagine Baerdemaecker, a 19th-century artist, standing before this castle. His identity as an artist is intertwined with his socio-economic position, and the artwork speaks to a particular cultural moment in Europe, one which romanticized the past, a past of aristocracy and feudalism. The choice of subject matter, a castle, can be seen as a reflection of the artist’s relationship to power, history, and social status. But what if the artist felt excluded from that history? How did the historical narratives of class and privilege affect those not born into such circles? By rendering the castle with graphite, Baerdemaecker engages in a dialogue about who gets to represent history and how. This drawing, small and unassuming, asks us to consider the complex interplay between personal identity, historical representation, and the cultural values embedded in the act of creating art.