Twee jongens spelen met een geit 1769 - 1772

Editor: Here we have "Two Boys Playing with a Goat," an etching by Balthasar Anton Dunker, made sometime between 1769 and 1772. There's something wonderfully ordinary about it, yet it has this strangely captivating quality...almost a dreamlike transience. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: Ah, yes! What grabs me isn’t necessarily the goat itself – charming as it is! – but more the idea of capturing childhood in a landscape, almost like plucking a fleeting memory right out of the air. What are they thinking, those boys, lost in their own little world? It reminds me a bit of Rousseau, idealizing nature. Do you feel that pull toward nature when you look at it? Editor: I do. The landscape is simple but adds to that innocent feel I described. Was Dunker intentionally trying to portray some kind of unspoiled version of childhood, do you think? Curator: It’s interesting you say that. Perhaps. Or maybe he was trying to show the other side, the freedom and the fun that come with it, rather than the innocence. Think about how he uses the etching technique – all those tiny lines coming together to create light and shadow. Isn’t it magical, how he conveys such a sense of depth and movement with so little? The boys become a microcosm, really. Editor: Now that you mention it, I notice how the light falls – or doesn't fall – on them. Curator: Exactly! So, we begin with these ordinary boys playing with a goat. And then, bit by bit, a new understanding starts to grow in your head, and in your heart, and… Suddenly, you find something entirely unexpected and extraordinary right there in plain sight. It happens all the time when viewing art; how magnificent! Editor: That's definitely given me a fresh perspective. It's more than just a genre scene; it's about seeing potential stories in everyday life! Thanks for sharing.