Verschillende modieuze houdingen van een man 1704

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this drawing by Bernard Picart, titled "Verschillende modieuze houdingen van een man," created around 1704. It's currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: Well, my immediate reaction is that it seems like a very early attempt at a fashion plate, or maybe a study for one. The way the figures are rendered reminds me of technical drawings for tailoring, almost as much as finished portraits. Curator: I think you're right. Given Picart's skills as an engraver, we might consider how such drawings acted as crucial visual records and sources in a pre-photographic world, impacting trends. They dictated forms of material culture as much as reflecting them. The pen and ink medium are interesting. There's nothing showy, just purely for conveying shape, and form of attire, it is interesting that it emphasizes drawing and line. Editor: Indeed, consider the social dynamics at play here. The deliberate staging of the gentleman in these various fashionable poses—it speaks volumes about self-presentation and social status. In 18th-century society, clothes signaled everything about you before you even spoke! So how does the proliferation of these images feed into consumerism? Were these drawings only circulated among tailors and designers or were they somehow available to people of fashion? Curator: Good questions! And look at how precise the clothing's details are: the number of buttons, the folds of the fabric, the buckles on the shoes. The focus of this work is essentially production. He's laying out a schema, documenting a production process as much as a social reality. It speaks of a workshop aesthetic, in that time. Editor: Precisely! It blurs that divide between craft and fine art. It certainly offers a fascinating window into both the making and the marketing of fashion in the early 18th century, something like its modern iteration. I find myself curious about how something like this was made available or what an original might be. Curator: Agreed. The drawing serves as a compelling testament to the meticulous craft of fashion illustration. And I guess that is the appeal for me - an image of its time but made up of all the components which still drive our modern appetite. Editor: It really makes one consider art's power not just to mirror but to actively shape societal norms, especially regarding appearances. The artwork makes a viewer engage the idea of access, aspiration and its link with the material.