Pakezel op landweg met zich ontlastende man 1752 - 1783

Curator: Well, look at this intriguing slice of life captured by Hendrik Godart de Marée between 1752 and 1783! The title, "Pakezel op landweg met zich ontlastende man" suggests it's... earthy. Editor: Earthy is an understatement. My first thought: awkward! An ordinary donkey with a loaded pack, juxtaposed against... that. It certainly grabs your attention. A man relieving himself... it’s bold. Curator: Exactly! It’s a genre painting captured through the crisp lines of an engraving. I mean, landscape in the Baroque style, but with this stark realism breaking through. The artist really had a thing for balancing nature with the frankly unavoidable realities of being human, didn’t he? Editor: There's something fascinating in immortalizing this mundane, often taboo act. Historically, the simple act of excretion has so many meanings, ranging from fertility rites to even warding off the evil eye! Did the artist purposefully select a donkey as well as an ironic image reflecting stubbornness as a base instinct of burden as part of being, also revealing himself at the root of all. The barrel above perhaps showing all you drink and eat, has to go somewhere eventually! Curator: Interesting, I had simply viewed it as quite literally, the shittiness of existence we're carrying along! Though, a lot of that nuance would certainly be missed by a modern audience lacking the contemporary iconography, eh? I love the tree though. I’m thinking how it anchors the composition, yet its dark foliage partially conceals this bloke in his moment... it is a complex dichotomy indeed, a push and pull that emphasizes the themes in place here of the figure against an open-yet-secluded landscape. Editor: Concealment and revelation are the key here. It reminds us that the everyday, the primal, always exists, often hidden in plain sight, in contrast with the conventional, pristine landscapes. But still with his ass right there exposed. He is not a figure or face to make a comparison. His is as anonymous, as invisible as we pretend the act to be. Curator: Invisible is arguable when hung in a gallery. Editor: True, true, that's how memory, or rather recognition, functions! Now it carries meaning for all that witness! That’s where art transcends reality. A candid bathroom break captured, an ode to existence if you will. Curator: Wonderful—now that's something to chew on as we stroll onward. Thanks for, ahem, lightening the mood!