Waterval Possibly 1858 - 1859

Curator: We’re standing before Johannes Tavenraat’s “Waterval,” a pencil drawing likely from 1858 or 1859, now held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It’s remarkably light. Almost ephemeral, like a half-remembered dream of a landscape. Curator: Indeed. It's very much a sketch, seemingly a quick study from nature captured in his sketchbook. Notice the economical use of line and the toned paper which adds to that transient mood you sensed. Editor: And that lightness perhaps reflects the status of landscape painting itself at the time? Was Tavenraat engaging with ideas about nature as something to be subdued, as was the typical attitude? The very act of sketching, was that an assertion of dominance or simply documentation? Curator: An interesting angle to take! His sketch participates within landscape painting traditions that had for decades, attempted to harness the sublimity of nature in its aesthetic form, but you are correct, the historical record proves that often came hand-in-hand with projects that were about domination. It's challenging to interpret authorial intent in something as rapidly produced as this however. The waterfall is quite loosely rendered but with enough detail that it's recognizable. It also fits into larger cultural understandings about our relationship with the landscape; in a place like the Netherlands water is a crucial element. Editor: Crucial, but also a force to be reckoned with. Here, in this sketch, it feels tamed, almost ornamental. Yet, there’s a raw energy hinted at in those stark lines suggesting the plunging water. I'm compelled by how, even within a traditional medium, you can feel an acknowledgement of its power beyond just pure aesthetic beauty. How can we apply the lens of power and resilience as well, for example to those that inhabit lands with water? Curator: These rapid sketches by Tavenraat, when contextualized with our present environmental challenges and dialogues can act as documents of past human interventions and serve as powerful commentary about our evolving dynamic with it and by extension all that depend on it. Editor: Yes. Thank you, its ghostly immediacy certainly holds space for contemplation around past, present and future power dynamics.