Studie c. 1881 - 1888

Anton Mauve sketched this Studie with graphite, revealing a landscape featuring a horse-drawn cart and a sparse tree. The motif of the tree, here rendered in its most skeletal form, is an ancient symbol of the axis mundi, the world's center, linking earthly and spiritual realms. Consider the many depictions of trees throughout art history, from the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis to Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. Each iteration carries its own cultural weight, but all serve as a visual shorthand for life, death, and rebirth. Here, the tree’s bare branches evoke a sense of starkness and vulnerability, tapping into our collective memory of nature's cycles and the transience of life. The psychological impact of the image arises from its very simplicity. The sketch invites viewers to project their own emotions and experiences onto the scene. This image becomes a mirror reflecting our subconscious anxieties about mortality and the passage of time. The symbol of the tree endures, evolving in meaning yet always resonating with our deepest fears and hopes.