Geit met jongen in een stal 1902

Curator: We're looking at Frans Lebret’s etching from 1902, "Goat with Young in a Stable." What catches your eye right away? Editor: Honestly? The stark, almost watchful gaze of the mother goat. There’s something both comforting and unnerving about it; very domestic, but the tones are very rough. Curator: It's that raw quality of the etching, I think. Lebret captured the barnyard, that feeling of a humid interior—through these careful lines. Do you feel that he tries to use imagery for a specific memory of motherhood or fertility? Editor: The goat has historically symbolized so many things—from stubbornness to provision—and her stance feels incredibly protective, facing us with the young at her feet. I can't help but feel her expression implies fertility. Motherhood also requires protection. Curator: I see your point. There's a tenderness as the pair are rendered that balances the sharp angles of the surrounding structure. Notice how much lighter they are than the wall behind, do you believe this directs us toward their nature and vulnerability? Editor: Absolutely. Light has been the shorthand of spirituality for eons. Here, in the domestic sphere, the light illuminates life. It almost turns it into a sacred act. Curator: Though the setting is rustic, even mundane, the artist imbued it with, as you said, a subtle spiritual layer, inviting us to see beauty and perhaps something more profound in these everyday creatures. What are your thoughts? Editor: Perhaps Frans Lebret wasn't trying to create new archetypes here, but highlight those that exist organically around us. I mean it can also simply mean that a tired farmer came back after work to discover the nature surrounding him, I don't know! Curator: An intriguing paradox to resolve in our mind, certainly something special in art—well spotted. Thanks.