Enkele koppen, twee rokend 1840 - 1880

Curator: Here we have "Enkele koppen, twee rokend," which roughly translates to "A few heads, two smoking," by Johannes Tavenraat. This ink drawing, dating from between 1840 and 1880, is currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: The initial impact is stark. It's the working man's melancholy distilled into a fleeting image, the roughness of the drawing style emphasizes a hard life lived and labor produced in the same. Curator: Precisely. Tavenraat's choice of ink as the medium and its minimalistic quality reflect on accessibility and unpretentious making, resonating with the daily routines it depicts. The focus wasn't on ornate detail but the essentials. Editor: I am drawn to how he positions the act of smoking. Here smoking is not just the consumption of tobacco; it is situated, politically and culturally, in a time when men shared and communed through labor. Curator: It serves as a shared, quotidian moment. He highlights how laborers utilized these products to get through the workday. Think also, how affordable and accessible it must have been to them. Editor: It goes further than depicting affordability, the realism of the portraits highlights not only class, but also the specific identities tied to race. Considering that Tavenraat produced it around the time when the abolishment movement began, we could consider how his artistic contributions contributed to the visual vocabularies for the struggle. Curator: Fascinating connection to the sociopolitical dimensions. Thinking of it in that vein makes it even more compelling in how the materiality of the paper and the cheap ink it employs challenge the elevated concepts of the academic art that prevailed in Tavenraat's moment. Editor: Indeed, it gives a deeper meaning when thinking of these men in relation to the struggles for racial equality. I'm walking away with a sharper understanding of how deeply rooted seemingly simple scenes like these can be. Curator: And I am realizing how profoundly a straightforward medium and style become significant and reveal how historical factors weigh in. Thank you for making this work of art even more remarkable.