Reproductie van een tekening van een kind op een trap door Frantz Meerts before 1883

Editor: Here we have Frantz Meerts' reproduction of a child's drawing on a staircase, likely made before 1883, done in pencil on paper. The immediate impression is one of simple innocence, the unsteady hand of a child captured with tenderness. What captures your attention when you look at this, and how do you interpret its gentle quality? Curator: It's like stepping into a half-remembered dream, isn’t it? The stark realism mixed with that naive charm is just disarming. The way Meerts chose to reproduce a child's work...it makes you wonder. Is it about lost innocence? Perhaps a reflection on artistic beginnings, stripped bare of pretension? There's something profoundly vulnerable about showing the tentative lines of a young artist. Do you feel a sense of longing, a yearning for simpler times when looking at it? Editor: Definitely, that yearning is there! It's almost nostalgic but also makes me think about authenticity in art. Curator: Exactly! Meerts could be inviting us to reconsider our notions of "skill" and "expertise." Maybe true art lies in that unfiltered expression, before self-doubt creeps in. Perhaps that stair is life and the landing, pause and perspective to keep going or make decisions. Don't you find yourself pondering on themes like origin and return to origin, and aren't we all children? Editor: Absolutely, it reframes our idea of what’s ‘good’ art. Thanks for the insightful perspective! Curator: My pleasure. Art is a mirror, after all.