Fotoreproductie van een prent, voorstellende Psyche 1840

Editor: This is a photographic reproduction of an engraving from 1840 by Christian Joseph Berres, called “Fotoreproductie van een prent, voorstellende Psyche,” or roughly, "Photographic Reproduction of a print depicting Psyche." It is haunting; Psyche looks lost and ethereal, captured in soft grays against all this blank space. What secrets do you think it holds? Curator: Oh, it whispers volumes if you lend an ear... Or perhaps a dreamy eye? Consider this was conceived during Romanticism – that tempestuous era obsessed with emotion and the inner self. The figure, Psyche, Greek goddess of the soul, is presented with this frottage or rubbing technique, where texture matters! It almost feels as though we are stumbling upon a faded memory or an old love letter! I can’t help but imagine Berres meditating on the intangible, trying to conjure a feeling. How about you? What whispers do you detect? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't really thought about the artistic choice reflecting the concept of capturing a soul. I just thought it was old. Maybe the softness is about capturing something inherently fleeting? Curator: Precisely! The texture feels like a trace, right? Not something concrete and easily grasped, which sort of elevates the mystery surrounding Psyche herself. What I see, maybe a bit eccentrically, is an almost scientific desire to grasp the unseen, even though art is mostly not scientific. Editor: Right. A yearning for something just out of reach. So, not just pretty, but poignant! Curator: Definitely! Art making then becomes akin to alchemic transmutation. We both get lost and found through these artworks. Editor: This reframing has given me a whole new perspective.