Ornament des Nick Bottom als Pyramus c. 1867 - 1868

Curator: Looking at this drawing, “Ornament des Nick Bottom als Pyramus” from around 1867, what leaps out at you? It’s a piece by Paul Konewka, pencil and ink on paper. Editor: Oh, I adore its elegant simplicity. There’s a delicate quality, almost like musical notation captured in swirling loops. The aged paper adds a layer of intimacy, like a page ripped from a personal sketchbook. Curator: Precisely! Konewka was renowned for his silhouette work, illustrating everything from Goethe to Shakespeare. What strikes me is how this "ornament" transcends mere decoration. Those interconnected circles feel…symbolic, archetypal, like a dance of interwoven fates. Editor: Interesting that you mention fates; it seems an appropriate consideration for an ornament referencing Nick Bottom's role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There's the playful absurdity of Bottom portraying Pyramus, but underneath, the play also examines how human identities transform. The shapes create something stable in the meeting point of the curved lines and circles. A playful approach to understanding an interior life, maybe? Curator: It's fascinating that you see stability! To me, they hint at the liminal space between the comic and the tragic. Bottom's ham-fisted performance becomes a lens through which we view love, loss, and transformation, after all. Editor: Indeed! And those fading hand-drawn type elements peeking from beneath – they serve as echoes of the artist's hand, underscoring that sense of craft and intention. I am curious what the lettering once was. There seems something almost holy about it. Curator: Absolutely. It's not just decoration; it is memory. This simple drawing serves as an entryway to a world brimming with Shakespearean mischief. Editor: It leaves us pondering how simple shapes can resonate with profound ideas, just as a single doodle can hold entire stories within its graceful arcs.