Gevel van een begroeid huis 1645 - 1655

Curator: What a dreamy dwelling. There’s something almost…alive about it, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Indeed! We're looking at "Gevel van een begroeid huis", which translates to "Facade of a overgrown house", an ink drawing created by Adriaen van Ostade sometime between 1645 and 1655, part of the Rijksmuseum collection. Van Ostade worked extensively in printmaking and genre scenes depicting everyday life. It looks to me as if this unassuming artwork reveals so much about labor. Curator: You see labor here? Fascinating! I see tranquility. I can almost smell the earthiness of the thatch and the sweet scent of the ivy. But now that you point it out, that's the mark of the human hands, and Ostade makes that really present. Editor: Precisely. Consider the drawing's execution: It's ink, a readily available, relatively inexpensive material even back then. Think of the hands that mixed that ink, prepared the surface, carefully constructed it all to give life. These were common buildings—rural settings and life, but to put his hand into it and draw that scene on an expensive sheet of paper shows us a moment. The building, however old and timeworn is someone’s castle! The materials might be modest, the process careful. Curator: You're right, the modesty is incredibly moving. This overgrown house… it’s a home, not a monument. And the very act of capturing it, as you say, elevates the ordinary. I wonder, do you think he idealized it? Is there some deliberate romanticism at play? Editor: I believe van Ostade depicted what he witnessed, making art from the ubiquitous. These genre scenes made the local population feel like this drawing held truth. The labor of everyday life as subject! What is art, and why are we doing it, otherwise? It certainly has some relation to our consumption of "real life." Curator: And it still resonates today! I find myself yearning for that quiet simplicity. Thank you, I hadn't considered the socioeconomics that went into the craft before. Editor: Absolutely. Reflecting on these old Dutch homes with attention to labor, really underscores their humble value to us even in our modern world. It helps bring it to life, doesn’t it?