Tre skitser med mor og barn 1746 - 1828

Curator: This is C.A. Lorentzen's "Three Sketches with Mother and Child," made sometime between 1746 and 1828. It's a pencil drawing, almost like a study. There’s a lightness to it that’s really captivating. What do you make of it? Editor: It’s very simple and intimate. You can see the artist’s process so clearly. I’m curious about why Lorentzen chose pencil. Was that a typical medium for preparatory sketches at this time, or was there more to it? Curator: Pencil was certainly becoming more common for sketching, a practical and accessible medium. But thinking materialistically, consider the implications: pencil allowed for quick, iterative work. This facilitated a specific kind of artistic labor focused on efficient production, as opposed to the more labored process associated with painting, say. The *means* of production were shifting. Why do you think an artist might embrace such changes? Editor: Perhaps to create art for a wider audience, beyond just the wealthy elite? If pencils and paper became readily available, artists could produce more studies and perhaps prints, making art more democratic. Curator: Precisely. We must also consider what it meant socially. This drawing embodies burgeoning middle-class values. Think about it—it emphasizes the nuclear family and domesticity through everyday subject matter. And then there's the relationship between consumption and value— pencil drawings can be seen as commodities in a burgeoning art market catering to collectors seeking works that signaled good taste, rather than divine inspiration. How might Lorentzen’s materials relate to this developing economy of art? Editor: It sounds like the choice of such a common medium also reflects that Lorentzen wants to meet those evolving expectations while fitting to a modern approach to art making. Curator: Exactly. Considering all these factors really enriches how we see it, right? Editor: Absolutely. I had never considered pencil as a vehicle of change before, but you made a great point of the process involving labor, medium, and consumption!