La visite 1878

Curator: Here we have Lorenz Frølich’s 1878 engraving, "La Visite," housed here at the SMK. Quite small, as many prints are. Editor: Small, yes, but intense! Like stumbling upon a goblin tea party in the middle of a fairy tale. There's a captivating darkness to it. Curator: He was really drawn to the medieval, to Norse sagas. Note the figures in their dimly lit cave, one seemingly beckoning another into the heart of it all. There is a sense of storytelling embedded here. Editor: I’m struck by the bestial figures themselves, these hulking ape-like forms. What do they evoke in the collective memory? Are these fearsome guardians, echoes of primordial ancestors? Curator: I think it speaks to Frølich’s interest in myth. He presents something primeval, even. I believe it's intended as a nod to the myths that inform the present. Editor: Right. The figure on the left, almost silhouetted, could easily represent a guide, perhaps Charon ferrying souls across the Styx. Are we meant to fear or be curious? Or both? It’s so ambiguous, isn’t it? The title, “The Visit,” seems deceptively innocent. Curator: That very innocence juxtaposed with the somewhat monstrous subject, yes, lends to its unique unsettling quality. Perhaps there's a kind of social commentary folded within the narrative itself. The composition adds so much, as well, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely, the shadowy cave creates this very enclosed, claustrophobic atmosphere, and you are immediately aware of these symbolic layers being revealed within it. So it begs the question, are they monsters or misunderstood residents offering strange hospitality? Curator: Food for thought, certainly. And there's an undeniable element of the grotesque mingling with an almost tender domesticity there. An unusual recipe. Editor: An unsettling one! Frølich manages to take what feels archaic and twist it into something psychologically current. Curator: Indeed. It lingers, doesn't it? Even on the journey out, into brighter galleries. Editor: Leaving a long shadow, no doubt.