Hooiende boer c. 1884 - 1887

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Willem Witsen’s “Hooiende Boer,” or “Haying Farmer,” likely created between 1884 and 1887. It's currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It feels… immediate. Raw, even. The subject seems to be receding, disappearing back into the field from whence he came. I sense weariness embedded in those sketchy lines. Curator: Indeed, Witsen employed pencil on paper to capture a very realistic representation. Note the receding horizon line, anchoring the composition and drawing the eye. Observe, too, how he suggests depth. Editor: But it is that sense of process that intrigues. Pencil as a working-class medium. The farmer, equally etched in the dust and dirt of his occupation. How did Witsen's choices of material shape this encounter? Curator: Interesting. For me, the medium emphasizes the ephemerality, its capturing of a fleeting moment. Pencil lines, softly layered, denote form without harsh definition. The strokes themselves carry the expression. Editor: And consider what ‘labor’ means when we look at sketches like these, studies made outside the mainstream conventions of his class. What did Witsen want us to confront by drawing this? Curator: It invites a meditation, perhaps, on rural life? I read more formalism. Note the diagonals intersecting, creating tension, that, along with a contrast of light and shadow and atmospheric perspective. Editor: While formalism allows to interpret this, it doesn’t connect the subject and his material circumstances with the technique of sketching as a form of both discovery and a quiet rebellion against traditional academic strictures. Curator: Perhaps. Yet, one might also see the sketch as an exercise in pure seeing. The landscape isn't simply *there*; it is constructed through a play of visual perception, guided by the artist's unique vision. Editor: A synthesis, then: a study of labor realized by means of artistic labor. Thank you; thinking about the choices Witsen made really unlocked this piece for me. Curator: Likewise. Contemplating the work together, in terms of the artist's intentional structuring and the resonance of form is really helpful to me, too.