Weiland met voederplaats c. 1803 - 1818

Curator: "Weiland met voederplaats," or "Pasture with Feeding Place," a pencil drawing by Arnoldus Johannes Eymer, created sometime between 1803 and 1818. What strikes you most when you look at it? Editor: How delicately those marks articulate this almost-nothing little shelter...it gives you a bleak sort of feeling doesn't it? Almost like the sketch of a ghost. Curator: Indeed. It's minimalist, in a way. You can feel Eymer's direct connection to the land and to its working class. This is all line, subtle shading that creates something enduring with something minimal, cheap: graphite on paper. No fuss. What was required, that's what’s presented. Editor: Absolutely, that raw and rudimentary aesthetic is quite captivating. Those skeletal trees almost mimic the structure of the building, hinting at a broader commentary on resource and utility within the social structures. What's compelling, too, is to consider what this simple scene reveals about landscape's ability to meet the needs of working-class families...what that demand on the landscape implies. Curator: Yes, and you've highlighted one aspect that draws me: Eymer so brilliantly gives presence to figures missing from the landscape by featuring those raw and real tools of their trade...It allows for us to imagine ourselves into their life, and contemplate a scene centuries removed from today. Editor: The act of simply noting, in drawing, the basic requirements for keeping livestock feels almost radical, now... a kind of artistic activism! In truth, the quiet attention Eymer has brought here makes a subtle, unforgettable impression. Curator: I agree. It serves as a powerful reminder of our roots, where living directly from and alongside the land was the foundation for so much of human history.