Gezin voor een huis 1777 - 1779

Editor: Here we have "Family before a House," an etching by Christiaan Josi after Pieter de Mare, dating from 1777-1779. It depicts a family outside what I assume is their home. There's a rather strong sense of domesticity. What strikes you about it? Curator: Well, let’s think about the context. Late 18th century, the Dutch Republic…This image participates in a longer discussion of family values. What does a ‘good’ family look like? Who has access to that ideal? What does the house signify in relation to that? Editor: So it's more than just a simple domestic scene? Curator: Exactly. Consider who is centered here: not some idealized aristocratic family, but rather a modest one. De Mare, and then Josi through his printmaking, were making a statement. How might this representation impact contemporary expectations around gender and labor within the domestic sphere? Editor: That's fascinating. I hadn't considered the statement made simply by *who* is depicted. The mother, the children playing... even that hen pecking seems deliberate, normal, but political. Curator: Precisely. What does that "normal" achieve, and who is excluded when "normal" gets defined? Consider the labor involved in maintaining that domestic sphere: Whose work is visible and valued? Whose is erased? And what might the image be saying, by including all those children and, pointedly, the very worn condition of the home. Editor: I see now! The image isn’t just a portrait; it’s part of a broader dialogue about family, labor, and societal values of the time. Thank you! Curator: Indeed. It serves as a valuable entry point to discussing 18th-century Dutch social history, offering layers of interpretation beyond just a genre scene.