Een drinker en een roker 1655 - 1700

Curator: Today we're looking at "A Drinker and a Smoker," an engraving likely created between 1655 and 1700, attributed to Jan van Somer. What’s your initial reaction to it? Editor: Immediately, it strikes me as…stark. The grey hues really set a specific tone. It looks incredibly gritty, as if I can feel the roughness of the paper. I wonder about the labor involved in its creation and how those choices impacted production costs. Curator: Observe how van Somer utilizes chiaroscuro, a distinct contrast between light and shadow, to dramatize the central figure. The man’s illuminated face, combined with his assertive gesture, demands our attention, a sharp contrast with the other person fading in the darkness. The linear quality emphasizes shape, and the contrast is certainly powerful. Editor: I’m interested in what it meant to produce and consume images like these. Engravings were a reproducible medium; consider the class dynamics inherent in printing and circulating this kind of subject matter. These materials—paper, ink, metal plates—were hardly neutral. Curator: True, but think about the semiotics at play here. The smoker’s pointing finger creates a visual directive. The beer can suggest an allegory on moderation, or, equally plausibly, an invitation to partake. It's an interesting semiotic disruption. What do these symbols say to the contemporary viewer versus the intended audience? Editor: Right, and how does it challenge notions of craft and value? An engraving like this isn't a unique, precious object, and I'm drawn to thinking about the communities around this work, the vendors who circulated the prints, the conditions they lived and worked under… Curator: Van Somer certainly encapsulates a moment within the Dutch Golden Age, portraying what could be considered the ordinary individual in such meticulous detail. His artistic technique and understanding of human expression through structured composition elevate the subjects. Editor: It does make you question who exactly the artist meant to engage with this piece and why they made the choices around the engraving process they did. Curator: An image designed, perhaps, to spark that exact curiosity! Editor: Exactly, making me more conscious of those material roots and routes of dissemination!