Illustration til Don Quixote 1776 - 1777

Curator: Here we have Georg Haas’ "Illustration til Don Quixote," created between 1776 and 1777. It’s an engraving, a print on paper currently held here at the SMK. Editor: Oh, goodness, look at this little stage drama! It feels like everyone is caught in a very elaborate, terribly serious game, but the style is playful. Curator: Indeed. The composition, though seemingly chaotic, follows a deliberate arrangement. Note the tonal range achieved through intricate hatching and cross-hatching—creating depth and shadow within the monochromatic palette. Consider how this use of line generates an illusion of texture. Editor: Right! The lines give everything that slightly crazed look, and the figures are sort of squashed in the center, as if the edges of the world might press in. I feel like I've stepped into a slightly bonkers dream sequence! Curator: As an engraving intended to illustrate Cervantes' novel, it is crucial to read the scene not only through form but also function. It serves as a visual text. The work is both genre painting and history painting, attempting to portray both common life and historically significant events through a moral lens. Editor: So, you’re thinking that even within the narrative, which is absurd and fantastical, the artist grounds it with detail, right? It makes one focus not only on Don Quixote and his plight, but also what appears like frozen attitudes of his companions, kind of as if it shows one aspect of human absurdity on full display. What I mean is that his insanity brings others into the spectrum, and his delusional chivalry unearths something similar in his company... What would you say? Curator: A sound assessment, I believe. There is also, of course, the consideration of production constraints within this kind of reproducible print and drawing work, aimed towards broader consumption. This inevitably impacts artistic license in favor of popular themes that served immediate reception. Editor: A mass market knight gone slightly wrong! Knowing all that sort of demystifies it somehow... Yet I still smile when seeing it! It must mean there’s magic even behind reason. Curator: Perhaps that is its final enigma and a testament to Don Quixote’s perdurable allure, after all!