Ein Arbeiter aus der _Großen Spinnerei von Edam_ c. 1894

Curator: Rudolf Gudden’s drawing from around 1894, “Ein Arbeiter aus der Großen Spinnerei von Edam,” meaning “A Worker from the Great Edam Spinning Mill,” immediately strikes me. Editor: There's an almost melancholic stillness despite its unfinished nature; a figure captured mid-action. I find it so moving because of that raw sketch-like rendering of a man preoccupied, or perhaps exhausted. Curator: The lines, achieved through what appears to be solely a pencil, work together in such a fashion as to capture both the subject's form and interior. The lines both build his figure while reflecting light in a striking method, creating contrast and therefore focus on his humanity rather than making him an icon of labor. Editor: Speaking of labor, consider the clogs: we see the direct imprint of a specific cultural industry, something deeply material and telling about the subject’s class, labor and everyday life in Edam at that time. And also how Gudden reduces his being to that uniform: it brings to mind his possible physical exhaustion and the constant demands of the spinning mill. Curator: I appreciate your reading on this character, however, his uniform seems less important than his stance. Notice the turn of his head. His interior seems to be drawn forth through these lines to make you more intimately connected to this very universal image of work and perseverance. His head angled down in consideration evokes this emotion. Editor: While that angle and gaze speaks to something personal for certain, isn’t that precisely the role labor plays in a capitalist structure? Doesn't the constant physical toil demand intense consideration as workers try to survive its constraints? Even this humble pencil drawing reveals a social hierarchy. Curator: I see that you emphasize the external realities and conditions surrounding labor that you perceive in his work; but to me the lines on the paper indicate much more beyond simply being a person representing this historical milieu. Editor: I find it so difficult to remove any work, even this drawing, from the conditions of its making. Curator: And for myself, I will continue seeing the visual language of this work existing foremost and above the mere labor conditions represented by his image. Editor: A divergence of opinion on these beautiful pencil strokes as they create both a portrait and social reality!