Two Old Men after 1755

Curator: This print, created by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo after 1755, is titled "Two Old Men." It is currently held at The Art Institute of Chicago. Immediately, I'm struck by the image quality. How could an etching—such an industrial medium—produce something that feels almost intimate? Editor: It's compelling how Tiepolo leverages the etching technique to convey a sense of aged fragility. Look at the labor required: each line carefully etched onto the metal plate. You can almost feel the craftsman’s hand meticulously documenting these figures. What’s the power dynamic at play here? Curator: Power and age are very interesting when seen through Tiepolo’s socio-political milieu. Note their garments; they suggest a specific class. Who were the elder members of Venetian society after 1755 and what role did they fulfill as repositories of knowledge in the wake of the enlightenment? Editor: Exactly, their clothes indicate something. And it is paper--it's an accessible medium. We’re confronted with an idea that information should spread through the people—consider then that printmaking exists in between industry and accessibility for the masses, what ideas were circulating, and for whom? Curator: Their close physical proximity makes me wonder what they are discussing. It has all the trappings of an old-world meeting, possibly plotting some social maneuver. Perhaps we need to view the image in tandem with larger themes that surround ideas of masculinity and aging, too? How might such ideas become unstable? Editor: I’m compelled to think about where the labor originates; in what social class and under what kind of industry? The marks, the cross-hatching… It’s fascinating how the artist balances precision and suggestion to render both form and texture and I wonder: do we assign too much weight to these kinds of depictions today? Curator: Absolutely. In a time of intense and sometimes facile democratization, looking back at the nuances with which older structures communicated becomes even more valuable, for the way they allow us to scrutinize our own assumptions and behaviors. Editor: The intersection of materiality, labor, and distribution of images make us aware of our historical position today and its specific conditions. Thanks for expanding my knowledge around the significance of this artwork.