Gezicht op het stadhuis van Westkapelle 1786 - 1792

Curator: Here we have Carel Frederik Bendorp's "View of the Town Hall of Westkapelle," dating from 1786 to 1792. The work is an engraving on paper and is currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It's quite striking! There’s something austere yet inviting about the image, a play of light and shadow that seems to suggest a world of ordered affairs but with a pulse of the everyday. I'm interested in the paper's texture; can you tell me more about Bendorp's material choices and engraving technique here? Curator: Well, the engraving medium, particularly in the late 18th century, lent itself to precisely this kind of ordered clarity. Look at the almost mathematical recession of space, those rational classical lines of the town hall. But there is more: this clarity can also be a statement of civic pride, wouldn't you say? Town halls were, of course, loaded with symbols of societal order, legal structure, and, especially, social hierarchy. Editor: Precisely. That neat carriage and fountain—all staged for consumption. I’m thinking about the socio-economic aspects of printmaking in that era. Was this meant for mass distribution or perhaps a commissioned piece circulated amongst the town's elite? Who were the hands, and what were their wages, producing these engravings? I always find myself digging deeper into the making process; how many impressions were created, how long did it take, and what paper source would have been typical for prints of this kind? These material elements are just as crucial as any high-minded symbolic reading. Curator: An interesting point, I'm also intrigued by the everyday interactions that Bendorp weaves in: that interaction by the fountain, the dog... It invites the viewer to contemplate the rhythm of everyday life, perhaps as a nostalgic rendering of the past in a changing world. Perhaps they suggest an idyllic vision of community and good governance. Editor: Good governance, perhaps, for those benefiting most from its material realities. Overall, I can't help but focus on the processes. What are the tangible economic forces influencing both its creation and reception? These drawings become windows into the material lives of people, tools, and spaces of labour involved in production and its role within consumption and distribution networks. Curator: Your attention to these aspects of materiality has given me a fresh perspective. I had initially considered only how the town hall embodies ideas of civic order, now I can see it as part of an entire industry as well! Editor: Indeed! Understanding its existence from that perspective unveils even greater meaning.