De kindren zyn altoos genegen om te speelen; / Men gun hen deeze vreugd, zy kan hun zinne streelen. / Wat spel het weezen mag, het zy hen toegestaan, / Zo 't hen in 't leeren maar niet agteruit doet gaan 1806 - 1830

Curator: This engraving, made between 1806 and 1830, titled "De kindren zyn altoos genegen om te speelen," uses pen and ink. The grid composition displays children at play. What do you see in how it was produced? Editor: Well, initially, I notice the use of printmaking and it is amazing that we have these multiple scenes of kids in their everyday. How would that inform our understanding of art made during this era? Curator: Consider the materiality. Engravings are often reproduced, making art accessible beyond the elite. The image shows idealized childhood scenes but remember: What did it mean to engrave, to reproduce, at that moment? The artist, Jan Oortman, also shows the value placed on childhood. Why create inexpensive versions to spread such values? What was their labour? Editor: So, the process of making and distributing the prints actually embodies the social values it depicts, particularly concerning childhood and its relationship to leisure. Curator: Precisely! Also look closer; while children play, social divisions are present. See their clothes: are they laborers? Where would they wear clothes of this caliber? The print serves not just as an art piece but a vehicle shaping the consumer's understanding. Editor: It is not about timeless idealized innocence. Instead it depicts aspirations of its time about childhood, labour, class, but most intriguingly about accessible reproductions! This engraver was part of popularising these social ideologies through labour! I would not have approached the work in that way initially! Curator: Understanding how something is made—who made it, why, and for whom—offers richer interpretations than merely judging its aesthetic appeal.