Wilde planten en bloemen 1878 - 1914

Curator: Look at "Wild Plants and Flowers" by Theo van Hoytema, likely created sometime between 1878 and 1914. It’s a woodcut print that is currently held in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Oh, wow. I’m immediately struck by the contrast – that deep, almost oppressive background and these brilliantly white botanical forms bursting forward. It's got such a strong graphic punch. Almost a little theatrical, wouldn't you say? Curator: I find that very astute. Van Hoytema's work is rooted in the Art Nouveau movement, a response to industrialization. In a sense, it aimed to bring the supposed order and beauty of nature back into everyday life as a form of resistance. Editor: A rebellious garden, perhaps? I love the almost unsettling life force those leaves exude! They remind me of those silent horror films from the 20s—they are like tendrils reaching, wanting... something. Maybe I’m over-interpreting, ha! Curator: Not at all! Art Nouveau, particularly in printmaking, became a medium for expressing cultural anxieties related to environmental degradation and a growing sense of alienation in urban, industrial spaces. Hoytema draws heavily on organic patterns, the flowing, curvilinear forms of plants mirroring a deep longing for connection to nature and even anxieties of that bond being broken by industrial practices. Editor: That makes so much sense! It feels very Dutch, somehow. It has both beauty and… doom? Is that too harsh? Like the Golden Age masters understood darkness as a canvas to play on. Curator: Not too harsh at all. Think about colonialism, and how representations of nature often coincided with—and masked—ongoing power dynamics, where specific resources, populations, and ecosystems were being dominated. Editor: Wow, I can really feel the pull of these images. I want to escape into the darkness and at the same time run away screaming! Curator: That push and pull feels appropriate and mirrors the sociopolitical climate of the day, in which one tries to maintain beauty in the face of looming anxieties. Editor: Right! Okay, now when I look again, it definitely gives me something more to chew on than just 'pretty flowers'. I’m captivated and a bit spooked! Curator: A sentiment Hoytema may have secretly hoped to instill in his viewers.