Curatorial notes
Editor: So, this piece is titled "Groepje mensen," which translates to "Group of People." It’s a drawing by Georges Michel, created sometime between 1773 and 1843, using pencil and graphite. It’s a rather faint, almost ghostly depiction. What stands out to you about this work? Curator: Looking at the materiality and the means of production here, it’s vital to consider the accessibility of these materials at the time. Graphite and pencil allowed for quicker, more portable image-making than painting. What kind of labor went into acquiring the raw materials, refining them, and distributing them? Editor: That's a good point. I hadn’t considered the economic aspect of the materials. I guess I was just focusing on the image itself. So, you’re saying the drawing materials tell us something about the society and culture that produced them? Curator: Precisely! The ease with which Michel could produce such a drawing speaks volumes about the shifting social landscape. Also consider how this challenges traditional hierarchies. A quick drawing on paper versus a commissioned oil painting. Is this "lesser" art, or is it simply art made accessible by its materials and the ease of its making? Is that blank half of the work deliberate? Editor: I'd always just thought it was unfinished! I wonder if the two part paper was significant, maybe from something mundane and everyday. It feels more subversive considering how those materials made art accessible. Curator: And by considering how it was made, and out of what it was made, it takes away its assumed separation as solely a product of ‘artistic genius,’ no? Editor: It does! Looking at it this way really changes my understanding of the artist's choices and intentions. Now I want to examine how other artists of the time used similar materials. Curator: Precisely. By exploring these choices, their consumption, and production we get a closer view of social structures and boundaries.