Klimplanten 1833 - 1879

Curator: Before us is "Klimplanten," created by Auguste Numans, sometime between 1833 and 1879. It’s an etching and print; the lines articulate a very particular scene from nature. Editor: My immediate reaction is a sort of quiet intimacy. It feels like stumbling upon a secret little world, just thriving quietly. Almost meditative. Curator: Etchings, particularly those employing the precision evident here, highlight the industrial processes of printmaking. The material, the plate itself, would have been prepared and etched through controlled corrosion to allow for the reproduction of this exact botanical study. Editor: It's fascinating to think about that industrial aspect; yet what really pulls me in is the obsessive detail. Look at how each leaf catches the light; each vein meticulously rendered. Did Numans see something sacred in those forms? Curator: One could interpret that devotion to detail as part of the burgeoning scientific interest of the period. Consider the societal demand for accurate records of the natural world – a direct engagement with colonial expansion, for example, as well as classification systems of botanists. Editor: Oh, I like that interpretation. Still, for me it resonates on a deeper, perhaps irrational level. Maybe it's the way these tenacious climbing plants suggest life finding a way, even on rough terrain. The lines and etching almost have a living energy, don't they? Curator: They reveal, indeed, how technology can extend observational study. Here it offers access to a kind of mass distribution of very precisely-documented plants. To consider the piece today is to connect with nineteenth-century approaches to labour, consumption and information. Editor: True, and thinking of it through that lens gives it an intellectual spine. It's funny, isn't it? A humble print can be a microcosm of culture, economics, nature and artistry intertwined so richly. Curator: Absolutely. These prints reveal the complex matrix of material production and aesthetics. Editor: Indeed.