Twee kinderen met vogels 1728 - 1789

Curator: This drawing, "Two Children with Birds", is by Jacob Hoolaart, dating sometime between 1728 and 1789. It’s done in ink. Editor: Oh, a quick little dance of chubby limbs and floating birds. I'm struck by how immediate and unfinished it feels, almost like catching a fleeting moment in a dream. It's airy and quite comical! Curator: Hoolaart often worked in these smaller, informal studies. You notice the focus isn't on perfect representation but on capturing a lively spirit, really highlighting his ability to do a simple figuration in Rococo style. Editor: Exactly! I'm interested in the material aspect here; look at how he employs line as both structure and embellishment, right? The simplicity, even the visible, quickly drawn line work itself feels radical when you consider it against the hyper-ornate work being commissioned by wealthier patrons at the time. There's a democratizing effect in choosing ink—easily accessible—and this kind of sketch quality. Curator: Yes! And how he balances light and shadow with those economical strokes. It almost makes you want to grab some ink and try to catch that same sense of carefree joy in something simple—you can almost feel him deciding, right *there* how he wants that light to bounce across their shoulders. Editor: Or thinking about it materially; it challenges this hierarchy of value too—that a quick, unassuming ink drawing can hold such resonance. Ink was used so readily; consider its everyday applications to bookkeeping and journaling alongside “high art.” I also see what you mean in those children, perhaps he’s subtly mocking, the Rococo love of extravagant living? Curator: Maybe, maybe! Or perhaps it’s just joy, captured in the simplest of ways. I think it's lovely, regardless, it invites the imagination. To consider the laughter or the fleeting song—so lovely for something executed so minimally. Editor: Agreed! It’s in those perceived constraints that the material almost pushes back – highlighting skill in its most basic form, that also seems to almost wink and push back against the elite nature of art at the time!