Drie witte jongens pesten een zwarte jongen 1895 - 1942

Curator: Here we have Wybo Meijer’s drawing, dating from between 1895 and 1942. It's rendered in pen on paper, and it's titled, rather pointedly, "Three White Boys Teasing a Black Boy." Editor: Oh, wow, right to the heart of it, isn’t it? It feels so stark. The black and white rendering definitely amplifies the raw, uncomfortable mood of the piece. There’s an immediate tension, a kind of… impending doom in the simplicity. Curator: Indeed. Notice how Meijer uses line work, particularly in the clothing of the three white boys, to create a sense of chaotic energy, while the single Black boy is depicted with a smoother, almost flattened texture. This highlights the asymmetry of power relations in the scene. The very sparseness is key to its power. Editor: It's clever—almost a visual shorthand for how systemic injustice feels. It strikes me as both sad and incredibly… potent, I guess? Because with so little, he’s said so much. It makes you wonder about the world the artist inhabited—where these types of interactions were obviously common enough to be captured. Was this meant to be a cautionary tale, or merely a recording of everyday cruelty? Curator: That is precisely where its significance lies, isn't it? The artist refrains from overtly moralizing; the artwork confronts viewers directly, requiring them to decipher the visual semiotics, and acknowledge their positions in the dialogue. Note the word bubbles, and consider their stark pronouncements from the context of semiotic aggression. Editor: Exactly. And the figure walking away. To me he is wearing dignity like a suit of armor against the cruelties those words fling at his back. As an artwork about power and exclusion, it’s still shockingly resonant today, wouldn't you agree? It sort of stays with you, doesn't it? Curator: Without a doubt. Meijer’s "Three White Boys Teasing a Black Boy" serves as an unsettling, yet undeniably vital, socio-political commentary rendered in deceptively simplistic visual terms.