Fragment van een nieuwjaarswens van de Amsterdamse askarrenmannen 1840 - 1870

Curator: It’s evocative, isn’t it? A whole bustling city rendered in these fine, feathery lines. There's a kind of melancholy grandeur in that silvery light. Editor: I see an intriguing fragment. This etching, created between 1840 and 1870, is titled “Fragment van een nieuwjaarswens van de Amsterdamse askarrenmannen.” Curator: Right! A New Year’s greeting from the sanitation workers of Amsterdam. Can you imagine getting that on your doorstep? A cityscape wishing you health and prosperity for the coming year, courtesy of the people who kept your streets clean. Editor: What stands out to me is how these public workers employed art as a form of communication. Rather than a simple announcement, they commission art that shapes civic pride, while subtly reinforcing the crucial work they do. It gives them cultural and social agency. Curator: And such lovely lines! Note how the artist uses hatching and cross-hatching to capture all those textures – the cobblestones, the classical architecture, the puffiness of the clouds. It’s almost dreamlike, this dance of shadow and light. Even the tiny dog walking along with its human adds something. Editor: This almost looks like an emerging vision of the modern city in dialogue with the old one. The architecture points toward history while the crowd reflects contemporary commerce. Curator: And who commissioned it! Sanitation workers! To send seasons greetings and remind you they existed! It’s unexpected. Something beautiful produced for a somewhat quotidian reason. I wonder how these “fragments” made their way into the museum? How many have survived? Did everyone put them in the kindling for the fire on January 2nd? Editor: These fragments become invaluable glimpses into past traditions of gift-giving, providing insight into the economy of cultural exchange. The Rijksmuseum has acquired these relics, and displays how a humble print functioned as a message and a social token. Curator: It’s quite wonderful. You know, I find it charming and also quietly revolutionary, the way it elevates these workers through art. To commemorate the efforts of men emptying the city’s chamber pots, on something other than a building, in a building now... Editor: Indeed, art here moves beyond aesthetic object into social document, making this a particularly insightful picture of the role of art and artist. It prompts so many questions about class, work, and civic participation. Curator: What was deemed "important enough" to portray... So it is! So true!