Voor het plakboek (3) 1875 - 1903

Curator: Here we have "Voor het plakboek (3)", or "For the Scrapbook (3)," number 68, by Jan de Haan. It seems to be a page of lithographs, etchings, drawings, maybe even some woodcut elements—dating somewhere between 1875 and 1903. It has a definite storybook feel, wouldn't you say? Editor: Absolutely. It's giving me this delightful, slightly unsettling vibe, like a series of half-remembered childhood fables gone slightly askew. So many miniature scenes crammed together, it feels both playful and a little manic. What strikes you first? Curator: Well, the composition is quite unique, split vertically with miniature narratives packed onto each side, very much in the style of those old Dutch Golden Age genre paintings. But it also leans into caricature, almost like a proto-comic strip, right? Look at the storytelling happening in each little vignette. It's clever! Editor: True. The crowded composition mirrors how imagery and morality were publicly consumed then. Notice, for example, how frequently Asian figures, and people with dark skin, are rendered as objects of either comic relief or terror—drawing clear visual links between public leisure and dehumanization in the 19th century. And "prenten," as it's noted at the top of this lithograph, suggests printed images circulating widely within Dutch popular culture. Curator: Good eye. But let's talk about the technique for a second. There's a clear love for line and detail. I imagine de Haan bent over these drawings for hours. It's meticulous and yet so free. What's especially fascinating is how the narratives are somewhat dark, yet still so cheerful. Editor: Definitely! And this tension between the humorous and slightly disturbing elements – reflects broader anxieties of that era concerning childhood innocence, social order, and racial hierarchies—visualised with vibrant wit in De Haan's rendering here. Curator: I see it like a mirror reflecting the complex soul of a culture, innocence entangled with awareness, much like our present world actually! Editor: Yes, art revealing deeper social complexities behind entertaining scenes; these miniature universes leave me wondering about the big stories behind each snapshot, as if glimpsing a vast novel within a few pages.