Stadsapotheek 1839 - 1845

Curator: This is "Stadsapotheek," or "City Pharmacy," an etching on paper made between 1839 and 1845 by Johannes Christiaan d'Arnaud Gerkens, now held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately I’m drawn to the somber mood. The muted greys really capture that kind of hushed, historical street scene, doesn’t it? Like stepping back into a story. Curator: It's the artist’s way of merging genres – a city scene teeming with life but imbued with a sense of history, don't you think? Notice how he carefully articulates architectural details through a romanticized filter. Editor: Indeed. Look at the balance between the foreground figures crowding around the pharmacy entrance and the receding perspective drawing us into the heart of the old city. It is fascinating how d’Arnaud Gerkens uses linear perspective to create depth. I also find interesting the fact that the author choose etching and not lithography which was very popular at the time, what does it signify?. Curator: Perhaps the fineness of the etching helped him achieving a kind of sharp realism, juxtaposed against the very emotive romantic sensibility of the subject. It’s almost as if he’s chronicling everyday life, yet subtly imbuing it with importance through light and composition. The dark, etched lines give it a gravity, a weightiness... like it is more important. What is he trying to immortalize? Editor: I read this space as charged with meaning. Is the gathering symbolic of illness? Is it related to mortality? Or do they simply crave for the remedies and treatments which once were a sort of a magic back in time? Or are these things imbricated one into another. There's something timeless and hauntingly relatable in its simplicity, too. Curator: Well, there's that delicate play. Thank you for sharing those brilliant readings.