Gezicht op een gracht in een stad 1855 - 1881

Curator: Wow, this cityscape drawing, "Gezicht op een gracht in een stad," has an incredibly brooding atmosphere. Made sometime between 1855 and 1881 by Coen Metzelaar, it just seems to capture a sort of pre-storm stillness. Editor: It does! The scene seems almost theatrical, shrouded in an intense sort of shadow, but that tower still pushes upward into what looks like an evening sky. It has a dreamlike quality for me. Perhaps because the heavy use of ink gives a weight to what seems to be the subconscious, to something unseen yet somehow profoundly present in a person’s every day. Curator: Yes, the starkness and weight you describe... the line work itself is really compelling. It's minimal, I guess. Just lines really, but so effective. It's a pretty straight forward drawing, a clear depiction, you know, this canal scene, boats docked, a figure on a bridge, and yet... there is an odd mood evoked through these layers of hatching and cross-hatching with dark inks that build shadow. Editor: It feels familiar in a deeper sense. Think about cityscapes from this era and earlier-- canals represent flows not only of water and transportation, but, at a psychological level, the very arteries of urban life. The figure alone on the bridge calls forward that idea of how humans seek a sense of control, symbolized by a stable "bridge" across the flux of human emotions. I keep feeling this melancholy that makes me think of the lone wanderer archetype that existed then and exists still. Curator: You know, melancholy does pervade a lot of city imagery from that period... an introspective turn for the individual that mirrors urbanization. I was immediately taken with how dark and atmospheric it is, it draws me right in, to almost want to experience this gracht vista... while maybe wanting to also hide under the covers at the same time. Editor: Right! It captures some essential element that is probably common in canal cities. It makes me reflect upon that psychological relationship that still ties humans with canals today and what cities allow to be built on top of them now in return. Curator: Ultimately this is, after all, more than just a record of a physical space... Editor: True! Thank you, Coen Metzelaar, for reminding us.