Militairen hengelen eenden 1835 - 1838

Editor: So, here we have "Militairen hengelen eenden," or "Soldiers Fishing for Ducks," dating from 1835-1838. It's an etching made with pen on paper. I find the scene sort of unsettling. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: The immediate draw is the materiality, isn’t it? This print, this etching, signifies a process—a reproductive process. Etchings like these democratized imagery. We need to consider this not as high art, but as a mass-produced object meant for a wider audience. What narratives were being circulated to the middle class? Editor: That's interesting, so the artist aimed for this wider distribution? Curator: Precisely. And let’s consider the depiction itself – soldiers engaging in a seemingly absurd activity. What does it say about their labour, their leisure, the power dynamics at play? The materials here – the paper, the ink – served as a vessel for conveying those social messages, those depictions of class and labour to be circulated amongst the populace. This wasn’t about individual genius; it was about production and dissemination. What does the "genre painting" tag mean to you in that context? Editor: So, thinking about genre painting and its role in broader cultural narratives, I guess this is both a landscape and social commentary, almost using the print as a means of broadcasting opinions of society? It’s not just the “what” but the “how” that matters. Curator: Exactly. We understand more now, hopefully, about how this print functions as an artifact embedded in its historical moment. The choice of etching allowed for accessible dissemination of this little tableau. We examined the process itself, understanding it isn’t solely about the image, but the means of its production.