Groenteverkoopster met ezel te Schaarbeek 1825 - 1835

Curator: The question of who makes art, how they make it, and under what conditions are central to understanding “Groenteverkoopster met ezel te Schaarbeek” or “Greengrocer with a Donkey in Schaarbeek”, a pencil drawing from between 1825 and 1835 by Jean-Baptiste Madou in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Yes, it's a beautiful drawing; the details of the woman and the donkey are incredible. It makes me wonder, though, what was Madou trying to capture in this everyday scene? Curator: Think about the labor involved in producing and distributing those vegetables, visible yet unglamorous. The donkey's load, the woman's posture – they speak to the physical demands. How does Madou, who had connections to the royal court, portray this labor? Does he romanticize it, or does he show it truthfully? Editor: I see your point. It's easy to look past the work itself. Is Madou acknowledging a whole sector of the economy simply through this depiction? The tools and props of her trade-- the donkey, the basket, the cart, the clothing; would this qualify this as a depiction of the "means of production" Curator: Precisely! And what about the act of drawing itself? Pencil was becoming more widely available at this time – what impact did increased access to these materials have on who could create and participate in artistic representation? Does the ‘everydayness’ that the pencil allowed democratize image-making and elevate different subjects in art? Editor: That's a completely different way of looking at it. So it's not just about what's depicted, but also how the materials used influenced the artwork and even its reception. Curator: Exactly. The choice of pencil as a medium and the focus on labor practices positions this drawing within a complex social and economic context. Hopefully, now you also appreciate its multiple layers of significance! Editor: Definitely! Thanks, I’ll never look at a simple pencil drawing the same way again.