Gezicht op de poort van Bertaimont 1875 - 1878

Editor: Here we have Léon Dolze's "Gezicht op de poort van Bertaimont," an etching from between 1875 and 1878. It has a sort of quiet, dreamlike quality...almost like a memory. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The gate itself. Don't you feel a certain symbolic weight there? Gates, doorways…they are liminal spaces, transitions. They hold so much potential – and also a tinge of anxiety, the unknown on the other side. Editor: Anxious? I didn't get that at first glance. Tell me more? Curator: Notice the style. This isn’t just a rendering of a gate; it’s an _engraved_ gate, lines carefully plotted in ink, referencing a much older style. What historical weight do these pictorial conventions bring? Consider this was made around the end of the 19th century…how might a contemporary audience view such an old-fashioned style in their time, or even today? What stories would it evoke? Editor: I see what you mean. It's not just a gate, it’s an echo of the past. And it is a European city gate, those tend to have fortifications. It gives an additional layer to the gate; it isn't simply about entering; it is about controlling entry. Curator: Precisely! Even the choice to depict it in monochrome lends to that timeless feeling. Editor: So the visual language transports us and complicates that sense of entering the unknown. Instead of an exciting new world, we may think of controlling a border…that we need to feel safe inside, or the feeling of being closed in. Curator: Right! The artist is definitely building something more profound, layering meanings within meanings. I found something new just now. Editor: Me too. I never considered how much the style influences my perception.