Gezicht in het trappenhuis van Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe made this photograph of a staircase in Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn, using gelatin silver print. It's so brown. Brown like old photographs, brown like sepia tints and nostalgia. And look at how that sepia flattens everything. The mural in the background, with its painted figures, blends into the faux-marble columns on the left. It's a trick of the light and the color; everything feels like it’s on the same plane. Then, there’s the carpet on the stairs, so ornate, blurring the line between decor and something more substantial. I'm reminded of Piranesi, etching impossible architectural spaces. Tepe shows us a real place, but his tones throw a veil of fantasy, like we are viewing a stage set or dream-space. Art doesn't have to pick a side; it can play with these dualities.