Vissersschepen in de haven 1868 - 1928

Curator: Look at this fascinating sketch. It's Jan Toorop's "Vissersschepen in de haven," or "Fishing Boats in the Harbor," thought to be created sometime between 1868 and 1928. It's a pen drawing on paper, and it resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: There's such a spectral quality to it, almost like a ghost memory of a harbor. The texture created by the pen lines really catches the eye. What size is the work? Curator: It’s relatively small, definitely intimate in scale. For me, the magic is in how Toorop uses the simple pen and paper to suggest light on water. Can you feel it? Editor: I think there's also a lot to be said for its incompleteness, the seeming roughness in Toorop's chosen method, given how frequently artists will memorialize a moment through paintings or sculptures. Curator: I think this aligns with impressionistic styles and also gives nods to the beauty of a 'simple life'. As if to say that what these hard working fisherman use, reflects that inner quality. Editor: Perhaps we should consider that it depicts labor - both Toorop's artistic labor and the labor of the fishermen. These were tangible goods that changed society by trading between people for social capital and financial reward. Curator: Absolutely. You see, Toorop's lines aren't just capturing a scene. They're tracing a connection—between the fisherman and the sea. A connection as vital and weathered as the boats themselves. Each marking, a gentle echo of the working life by the water. Editor: A point that I disagree with. I wonder, where does the harbor start and finish? If we trace the lines of materiality. In this piece we are also confronting what "art" should become when a world moves so fast in its productivity. What exactly should an "artwork" be within this process of "more". Curator: Hmmm... What an insight! Maybe Toorop is presenting his version of stillness against that very current of acceleration! A reminder of a different pace, perhaps. Editor: A reminder of an economic infrastructure to make space for such a perspective of 'art', yes. In the process we could trace the watercolours used and think of the means that Toorop, as an individual, would gather or create. Curator: It definitely leads to many angles, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. This pen and paper tell quiet, enduring stories about change, commerce and people on canvas.