Tekenakademie 'Hierdoor tot Hooger' te Rotterdam, penning van de tweede grootte 1820

Curator: Let’s take a look at this striking piece in the Rijksmuseum: “Tekenakademie 'Hierdoor tot Hooger' te Rotterdam, penning van de tweede grootte” created around 1820 by Adriaan Bemme. It’s crafted from metal, employing engraving to produce a neoclassical design on this award medal. Editor: Immediately, I am drawn to the restrained elegance of the figure. Her composed posture, the laurel wreath—there's a quiet confidence. Curator: This medal was likely given as a prize for achievement at the Rotterdam Drawing Academy, highlighting the academy’s commitment to uplifting its students, suggested by the inscription: "Hierdoor tot Hooger" – "Through this to Higher". It's fascinating to consider the role institutions played in shaping artistic talent and aspiration in that era. Editor: Absolutely. And what do you make of the figure herself? Is she an allegorical representation of Art or Learning? The presence of a winged creature nearby lends an almost mythical quality to the scene. I wonder if she embodies particular gendered expectations. Curator: Given the period and the association with the academy, it's very possible she symbolizes idealized female artistic accomplishment and perhaps also notions of civic virtue as represented by her serene, classical pose. These awards served a purpose, did they not, in creating the desired behavior by future generations. The laurel leaves are especially prominent when observing the inverse side. Editor: It prompts one to consider which talent was selected, awarded, encouraged—and therefore what types of art were considered most "valuable" and why. Was this truly meritocratic, considering questions of accessibility and inclusivity regarding race, gender, and class? Curator: Exactly. The awarding of artistic merit was inevitably shaped by socio-political forces of that moment, a system of power acting through something that presents itself as solely educational, creating expectations, not just recognizing talent. It is the politics of imagery made tangible. Editor: The object, seemingly a symbol of individual artistic achievement, actually opens up much larger, structural discussions, does it not? And now that, for me, transforms its beauty. Curator: Agreed. An apparently straightforward artwork speaks to many other complicated questions that influence us even now.