Bedelaar 1814 - 1859

Curator: This etching, known as "Bedelaar", was created sometime between 1814 and 1859 by David van der Kellen. It now resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It hits you with a wall of grey. An old man looms, staff in hand, next to a child huddled on the ground. It's the kind of image that sticks with you. Curator: Indeed. Van der Kellen captures a slice of life. You can see how he’s captured this, possibly as some form of genre painting. This isn't idealized beauty. It's… stark realism. You feel their quiet desperation through those finely etched lines. Editor: Look at the contrast – the girl’s small form perched so awkwardly upon old books with no shoes versus the stern man. Is that hat clutched in his arm an icon of respectability abandoned for the sake of survival? And why depict them by some cathedral feature? Curator: I'm drawn to your symbolic reading. Perhaps Van der Kellen is suggesting how even faith might struggle to provide solace amidst stark poverty? The arch and strong column contrasts and, I think, creates balance for the fragile beings rendered within it. Editor: Or perhaps, those heavy sketched lines mirror the weight of poverty that those figures are struggling against? Do you think these people have some shared bond? Why does he need to clutch onto his staff while she sits bare-foot, but defiant? Curator: Perhaps they're father and daughter or two unrelated beggars sharing a temporary resting place? It leaves room for a lot of possibilities. The wonderful thing about this is the light pencil work which softens the darkness just a little. Editor: Even within a seemingly simple sketch, Van der Kellen is able to evoke a sense of sadness without drifting into sentimentality. A real talent, wouldn't you say? Curator: Definitely, an observer with the capacity to weave narratives with strokes of black on white. Editor: The artwork reminds me, maybe there's beauty even in depictions of vulnerability, where hope and despair dance in grayscale. Curator: That's insightful. And hopefully gives people something to think about, walking away from it all.