Twee staande vrouwen 1711 - 1781

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have "Twee staande vrouwen" attributed to Hendrik Busserus, a drawing dating from between 1711 and 1781 rendered in ink and watercolor. What’s your initial reaction? Editor: My eye is drawn to the simplicity. The watercolor wash is light, almost translucent, but it lends an incredible softness to the figures. Their posture is natural, suggesting a captured moment. Curator: Indeed. This drawing offers us a window into the visual culture of the 18th century, revealing details about clothing and social distinctions. It would have been a period that really began defining social class structures through very clearly defined public display. Editor: Precisely. The bonnets, the necklines... They speak volumes. Are these symbolic of a particular region or affiliation? Is the green shade of the dress somehow meaningful beyond mere aesthetics? Curator: The level of dress does indicate these women probably belonged to the working class. The seemingly humble costumes are indicators of cultural identity. Clothing was rigidly defined to denote position and it would take decades if not centuries to alter this pattern. Editor: And you can really see the psychological dimension—a study in the expectations for women and womanhood. This isn’t just an image of two figures; it carries within it a whole complex tapestry of prescribed roles, self-perception, and social constraints. Curator: Exactly! What is interesting, though, is what the painting itself reveals in addition to cultural memory, as you say. Its mere existence implies some type of social acceptance of representing different echelons of society at a time of deep-rooted class and gender disparities. Editor: It is definitely fascinating how the piece transcends what appears like everyday costumery and offers up those layers of meaning. This really goes to show that simple genre paintings can become archives of symbol and social memory. Curator: Agreed, this genre painting truly gives us cause to pause and to imagine ourselves transported to the realities of the 18th Century through something as seemingly straightforward as ink and watercolour drawings.