Twee mannen in een interieur 1758 - 1812

Jan Fokke made this print, Twee mannen in een interieur, depicting two men in an interior. The setting seems to be the Netherlands in the 1700s. The trappings of wealth and power are on full display here. The interior shows a large window, an extravagant curtain, and a domestic servant visible in the background. But the picture is more than just an account of wealth. It's an insight into the hierarchical social structures of the time. Fokke’s image, like those of Hogarth in England, can be read as a commentary on social divisions, wealth, and the institutions that reinforce them. Prints like this would have been sold in print shops, and it would be worth researching to find out more about the clientele for those shops, and the ways images like this would have been viewed and understood.