My Model and My Boat 1894

Curator: Anders Zorn’s etching, “My Model and My Boat,” from 1894, captures a striking scene. The composition grabs you instantly. What are your first impressions? Editor: There's a real tension here. It’s as if the moment has been frozen in time – a candid intimacy combined with the crisp, almost stark linework. It is a kind of working class Venus. What was Zorn trying to do with this print medium? Curator: Zorn was known for his adept use of etching. The rapid, almost sketch-like quality allows a level of immediacy. The lines are so economical; note how the reflections on the water are depicted with just a few strokes. What’s fascinating is how this contrasts with the very laborious process of creating an etching. Editor: Labor is right. But how does that labor speak symbolically? Look at the image. We see a sailboat, a powerful symbol of freedom and adventure. Yet it's tethered, idle. Is the model also in some way tied down, perhaps by societal expectations? The netting she drapes herself in feels almost like a cage. Curator: Or it might be more practical. She's clearly been swimming. Perhaps it’s merely a fishing net for catching and preparing dinner? It all points towards lived experience. Also consider how printmaking allowed for the democratic circulation of images and ideas, bringing previously exclusive themes of the female nude into wider circulation. Editor: I do see your point, it brings to mind other popular tropes of the day of art intersecting with ordinary daily practices, maybe even elevating it. Yet, for me, that net, that posture, carries echoes of vulnerability and perhaps a commentary on the female figure as an object of observation in art. And the composition almost frames the model between the sharp angled sail and dark thicket to the right. Curator: Regardless, the dialogue between the industrial, mass-produced nature of the etching itself, and the deeply personal depiction creates an enduring tension in Zorn’s work. Editor: Ultimately, this work is about so much more than technique. It prompts a deeper reflection on freedom, constraint, and the power of visual symbols.