The Voyage to Paris 1798

Curator: This engraving from 1798 is entitled "The Voyage to Paris" and was created by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki. There is an interesting interplay of light and shadow. Editor: It feels cramped, almost claustrophobic. The lines are so precise and dense. A mother, a grandmother or nanny and maybe a husband sit around the table in what appears to be a garret, perhaps not quite ready for the voyage indicated in the title? Curator: Look at how the beams form a tight grid above the figures, creating a sense of enclosure. The lines making up the clothing almost resemble topographical maps and each object feels weighty and solid. Editor: It reads to me as the depiction of an impending sense of change and all the anxiety and doubt that surrounds the life altering impact on family dynamics. Do you agree the voyage suggested in the title doesn’t immediately lend itself to the scene within the composition? Curator: Not explicitly, yet voyages need not only concern the literal crossing of borders or seas. This scene also evokes internal voyages—emotional and familial shifts made manifest through gesture and domestic arrangement. Consider the grandmother seated versus the fashionable gentleman at the table whose demeanor exudes modern ambition, next to a chair with a heart carved in the back. Editor: True, her hand gestures strike me as somewhat fraught. But also, what does "Paris" signify at this moment? The French Revolution was a relatively recent memory in 1798; was this 'Voyage to Paris' one of hope, escape, reinvention or some complex amalgamation of these elements? Also note how gender roles may shift from old order to the modern man sitting at the table and looking away from the young mother with her new babe? Curator: The details— the cobblestones, exposed beams, and linens—add a depth to this artwork, giving an insight into the values and cultural beliefs related to concepts such as tradition, motherhood, masculinity, and modernity in late eighteenth-century life. Editor: Looking at Chodowiecki’s piece now, I’m struck by its capacity to provoke reflection. Its small scale belies the range of its inquiry, it also provokes questions around socio-political transition. Thank you for revealing aspects I had previously missed.