Lopende jongen met een emmer in elke hand, naar rechts Possibly 1652

Editor: So, here we have "Lopende jongen met een emmer in elke hand, naar rechts," or "Running Boy with a Bucket in Each Hand, Facing Right," a drawing in ink on paper by Harmen ter Borch, possibly from 1652. It feels so simple and direct. What catches your eye about this drawing? Curator: My attention is immediately drawn to the mundane labour being depicted. Here we have a child engaged in what is most likely a task related to water carrying, a crucial aspect of daily life in the 17th century. Editor: Water carrying? It's just a simple drawing of a child with buckets. I hadn't really considered what they might contain or its connection to broader historical practices. Curator: Exactly. And what are those buckets *made* of? How accessible are those materials to the broader community? These are important questions to ask to explore how the act of drawing is itself a method of immortalizing very standard commodities. Look closer at how Ter Borch chose to represent the labor; the way he quickly sketched in the garments almost indicates their own material production through repetitive and coarse linework. The buckets almost appear secondary to the actual fashion. What is prioritised here? The fashionability of labor, or its necessity? Editor: So, you are suggesting it’s about the process of making, not necessarily just about the image itself? Are you seeing the act of drawing in conversation with other processes, or something? Curator: Precisely. It's not just the image, but the whole chain of production – the availability of paper and ink, Ter Borch's labor, and the boy's embodied work as a visual statement on labor in 17th century Netherlands. These elements combine and collapse into a single product we appreciate today. Editor: That's a very interesting take; I had only been looking at it on its face. Curator: Thinking materially invites one to reconsider what stories can be found through artworks which often only emphasize aesthetics. Editor: I definitely appreciate the opportunity to look beyond that superficial perspective! I'll be more mindful of these interconnected processes going forward.