Koning en een koningin op een troon, achter hen staat Fama 1700 - 1800

Editor: This drawing, "Koning en een koningin op een troon, achter hen staat Fama," is from somewhere between 1700 and 1800. It's anonymous, and done in pencil on toned paper. There's something so delicate about the lines; it almost feels like a glimpse into a private sketchbook. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I'm drawn to the materiality itself, this toned paper and the light pencil work. Think about the production of paper at the time, the labour involved, the social hierarchies embedded in accessing such materials. Even the seemingly casual nature of the 'sketchbook drawing' label is deceptive. Editor: Deceptive, how so? Curator: Well, the sketch might seem spontaneous, but consider the economics of artistic training then. To even have the leisure and resources to practice, to experiment with materials like pencil and toned paper, speaks volumes about the artist’s social positioning. It reflects privilege. What is the subject matter itself suggesting in this respect? Editor: You mean, a king and queen? That implies a patronage system, doesn’t it? The artist might have been aiming for royal favor or documenting courtly life for a specific patron? Curator: Precisely. The very act of creating this drawing, the cost of the materials, the artist’s access to the royal figures – it all points to complex networks of power and production. What happens when those networks of labour breakdown? Think about the shifts toward industrial paper production in later centuries. Editor: Right, mass production changes everything... Thanks, I never would have considered it that way, thinking about the materials themselves. Curator: Looking at the process illuminates not just artistic skill, but social and economic structures as well.