Breakfast 1897

Curator: Immediately, I'm struck by the light in this Emile Boilvin print, titled "Breakfast" from 1897. It's held here at the Met. Quite charming, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: There's something almost melancholic about the morning light catching the faces in this drawing. It’s sweet, but muted, like a memory tinged with sadness. Are we sure it's called 'Breakfast'? It feels a little too…still for that. Curator: It is quite still. As an etching, the layering of ink allows for these subtle modulations in the image. Note how the cross-hatching and fine lines are built up to give texture to the dresses and create shadow in the ornate interior. This attention to process mirrors the attention to daily life as art. Editor: Exactly! The *process* is the point, maybe. These aren't "real" people eating; they're representations caught in a web of societal expectations about what a 'Breakfast Scene' should be, aren't they? And it feels, perhaps consciously, staged. Curator: Yes, and also quite deliberate. We can consider this piece within the context of late 19th-century romanticism. Genre paintings like these offered commentary on class structures and consumerism. For example, consider the luxury items in the background. They reinforce notions of bourgeois leisure. Editor: Oh, the ornate clock staring down at them all, silently judging! The elaborate window and frills just compound that suffocating feeling. And who produced these luxury items anyway? I keep thinking of all the anonymous artisans who helped make these upper-class breakfasts possible in the first place. Curator: A relevant observation that extends to Boilvin’s work as well. Printmaking allowed for a multiplication of images and potentially a democratization of art access and influence, while its reliance on traditional artistic labor raises concerns. The work makes commentary while re-entrenching certain hierarchical conventions. Editor: It's unsettling, isn’t it? What a beautifully deceptive work! Curator: Indeed. So much to unpack, even from what seems like a simple breakfast scene. Editor: Makes me wonder about the silent, unspoken dramas unfolding at their own breakfast tables. Something beyond the crisp lines and cross-hatching that linger in the air long after the meal is over.