Jule- og nytårskort 1933

Curator: Here we have Axel Hou's 1933 etching, titled "Jule- og nytårskort," a Christmas and New Year’s card, held here at the Statens Museum for Kunst. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: My first impression is the density of the linework. The entire scene is practically teeming with finely etched marks, creating an overall solemn, weighty feel despite its modest scale. Curator: The dense crosshatching certainly lends the print a certain gravity. Look at how that tonal quality impacts the representation of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi; traditions depicted since the Early Renaissance, but how are we receiving it here through this image, in this particular time period? Editor: Well, I think the time period and the original intent matters immensely. The greeting itself seems to indicate a work commissioned for personal use; likely intended as gifts between loved ones during an economically depressed time period, suggesting an emphasis on traditional social values perhaps providing comfort and respite from societal strife. Curator: Interesting that you bring up "comfort." Let's consider the composition. The figures are tightly compressed within the picture plane, framed by the dark shelter and the subtle, brighter sky towards the background. Do you see any purposeful connections and compositional "rhymes"? Editor: I note the composition seems almost staged with Joseph to the left as a sort of visual "anchor," the holy family in the center as the nucleus, flanked on both sides by crowds—the figures with halos at top and the kneeling Magi with a following at bottom—each bearing witness and participating in the act. Curator: A compelling point. Let us turn our attention to the materiality. Given that it is a print meant for circulation and sharing, it does not privilege grand gesture as would say a large scale painting. I wonder how it engages, then, the notion of the historical and cultural importance behind it... Editor: It becomes almost an intimate artifact, then, imbued with collective memory of a scene often referenced and rendered throughout history. A sort of visual talisman meant to impart familiarity and security between friends. Curator: Precisely, the visual weight combined with its intimate nature does provide both a unique window and snapshot of history within its intricate framework. Editor: Ultimately, Hou’s card encapsulates that tension beautifully, conveying not only the timeless significance of the depicted events, but hinting to its immediate, personalized intent during its era of making.