Fabels van Fontaine

Editor: Here we have "Fabels van Fontaine," created in 1894, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It's a colored pencil print. There’s something whimsical and slightly melancholic about its muted tones. What socio-political ideas might be subtly embedded within these fables? Curator: Given its creation in 1894, we should consider this work as engaging with late 19th-century anxieties around industrialization and social change. Are the fables meant as moral lessons for the emerging middle class, perhaps subtly reinforcing existing power structures? Who gets to tell the story? Editor: That's interesting. So the animals and scenarios, even if appearing simple, might carry complex social commentaries? Is it just about personal ethics, or about criticizing power? Curator: Precisely. La Fontaine’s fables often use animals to satirize the French court and human nature. How does that function here, reproduced as prints during a period of significant social upheaval? The choice of accessible print medium also broadens the fable’s audience and, therefore, its social impact. What impact did this distribution mechanism have on making the original works politically subversive? Editor: It allowed these subtle critiques to reach wider audiences. So it’s not just the content but how it's disseminated. Thank you, I am coming to think of this work as so much more subversive than it initially appeared. Curator: Absolutely. It underscores that art is never created in a vacuum, it echoes society even in unexpected places.