Misery at Home n.d.

Curator: This pen and ink drawing on paper is entitled "Misery at Home." The work is by Rodolphe Bresdin, from around the mid-19th century. Editor: "Misery" is right. It has this claustrophobic, chaotic feel—all those lines collapsing in on each other, very sketch-like. And the details—they add a sense of distress or tension. Curator: Absolutely. The stark contrast of the ink on the paper heightens the roughness of the domestic setting, while Bresdin's laboriously rendered penmanship allows for tonal variation. Note how he doesn't blend lines for depth—everything is directly laid out. He shows how the material construction mirrors the very real circumstances of this scene. Editor: The scene definitely feels overcrowded and the social roles undefined. You've got two adults in repose and someone working in a chair—are they resigned? Overworked? How do class structures determine what the relationship might be within the room? I also find it quite gendered; is there something being alluded to in these very simple characters, maybe related to Bresdin’s time and position in French society? Curator: Bresdin’s own social standing was somewhat precarious throughout his career, constantly fluctuating in status. And he, himself, came from very humble beginnings. Looking at the lines, I wonder what sorts of drawing tools were available at that time for an artist of his caliber. Editor: That precariousness surely informed his social awareness and the work we are seeing. There’s a rawness in the linework and the domestic items strewn across the floor which might reflect themes of dispossession that mark marginalized populations. It doesn't feel romantic or sanitized like much academic genre art of that time. Curator: No, it certainly subverts the usual tropes. In genre painting of this kind we expect an accurate, smooth realism which the medium might afford, and yet this remains deeply expressive—almost abstract—in its approach. Look closely at the vessels along the upper shelves! We can begin to examine just what kinds of labor the home affords. Editor: I hadn’t quite noticed the range of material goods in the space. Maybe this artwork, and those small details, suggest how much labour it takes to keep those materials functioning in a household and economy, both. All that from one drawing... Curator: It prompts a material and social reflection of domestic environments—something simple, yet it allows us a wider historical perspective. Editor: Precisely. A simple tableau to spark profound critical conversations, indeed.