Die Familie des Künstlers (Luise und Victor Scholderer) 6 - 1897

Curator: This pencil drawing, titled "Die Familie des Künstlers (Luise und Victor Scholderer)", created around 1897 by Otto Scholderer, offers a glimpse into the artist’s domestic sphere. What are your initial thoughts on this family portrait? Editor: There's a gentle quietness here, a private moment captured in spare lines. The delicate hatching suggests a study, perhaps, but the composition, placing them in intimate proximity, creates a sense of belonging. Curator: Absolutely. Scholderer’s masterful use of line and tone gives shape and form to his relatives. Notice how he captures light reflecting off their faces, employing only minimal cross-hatching and shading. Consider, though, that Scholderer was an impressionist painter. The roughness here isn't casual, but functional, capturing something genuine. Editor: That roughness speaks to me, particularly when considering the material itself: paper and pencil, humble materials for such an intimate rendering. This challenges traditional notions of 'high' art, directing us toward the physical act of creation itself. Were these materials chosen for accessibility, I wonder? Curator: It certainly implies an immediacy, but perhaps also, as an artist steeped in impressionist thinking, Scholderer wasn't necessarily making art for an established commercialized market. It might simply be for himself. What stands out, formally, is the interplay between these three distinct figures. The artist is positioned such that they form something akin to a pyramid shape on the page. The central figure gives the piece much of its weight and meaning, it is as if she’s reading something. Editor: She really anchors it. I also note how the materiality emphasizes labour and domesticity. One sees the labour through the pencil's work and its many faint hatchings; in subject too: perhaps they occupy these hours day after day, not posed theatrically for an audience but occupying familiar environments for a familial network. Curator: The intimacy comes not from grand, sweeping statements, but a very private view offered by Otto. Editor: This gives an opportunity for considering the means by which the subject has been represented—a working image for a particular purpose. A unique and insightful portrayal of process in context and material.