Wie honger heeft, is tot alles in staat 1840

Editor: This is "Wie honger heeft, is tot alles in staat," a drawing by Victor Adam from 1840. It's an engraving, and there's a real sense of hardship in the central image. What strikes me most is the desperation etched on the faces. How do you interpret this work, particularly its relationship to social commentary? Curator: It’s more than social commentary, I think; it’s an indictment. Adam situates this work within a tradition of visualizing suffering, linking individual experience to broader systemic inequalities. The proverb itself, “Hunger makes people capable of anything,” frames it as a direct consequence of power imbalances, wouldn’t you agree? Look at how the central figures huddle together, their expressions a mix of weariness and defiance, juxtaposed with the seemingly indifferent vignettes surrounding them. What do you think Adam is trying to say about individual agency versus societal constraints? Editor: That's a great point about the surrounding vignettes – I hadn’t considered them beyond decorative elements. I guess they do highlight a disconnect, like privileged lives continuing while others are in crisis. The figures are not just hungry; they are isolated by their hunger, perhaps even dehumanized? Curator: Exactly! Think about how Romanticism often idealizes the individual, but here, Adam subverts that. He shows individuals pushed to the brink by forces beyond their control. Does this engraving make you think of more contemporary situations, of modern poverty perhaps? How can we use such images to critically analyse current social welfare programs? Editor: Definitely. It's a powerful reminder that certain power dynamics persist across time. Curator: And it pushes us to consider the ethical implications of portraying human suffering, doesn’t it? To what extent does witnessing another’s pain compel action, or merely reinforce existing power structures? Editor: This makes me realize how much more there is to unpack from this image. I initially focused on the central figures, but I now see the surrounding vignettes as critical to its meaning. Curator: It is about looking at these details and letting that complicate how we understand art's role in broader conversations around injustice.