Hooiberg Possibly 1858 - 1859

Curator: Standing here, we have "Hooiberg," a pencil drawing on paper, possibly dating from 1858 to 1859, by Johannes Tavenraat. It's currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My first thought? Quiet. There’s a hushed quality to this simple haystack and surrounding branches. Almost feels like holding a secret. It has this wonderful raw quality and fragility I respond to deeply. Curator: Tavenraat, working within the Romanticism movement, was keen to capture the Dutch landscape and rural life. We can see it represented, almost like a relic, through humble structures. Editor: It's such an honest, unaffected image, though, isn't it? The haystack looks almost like a little dwelling with that center pole piercing into the sky. All those tangled sticks look like some creature trying to pull the entire drawing back into the earth, which is rather ominous, don't you think? Curator: That reminds us of the social context of the 19th century: a fast growing, industrial society changing very fast with great political consequences that drove romanticist to nature. Here the symbolism resides not so much in the perfect rural scene but the simple construction as a key subject. Editor: Absolutely, a simple life. Makes me feel nostalgic. It almost urges a collective memory of things we may or may not have experienced, or maybe only read in fairy tales or something... I would like to be a small creature sheltered behind that hay stack. Curator: The lack of detail might suggest that Tavenraat wasn't trying to create an exact depiction, but instead capture an impression, a feeling of the place. The drawing shows us the process behind how an artist views nature, or the ideal of such. Editor: You're right. I think that openness, that kind of vulnerability, is what makes this sketch so compelling, more so than, say, a grand landscape painting of the time. The human interaction seems tangible here. It sparks curiosity for the space, which for me makes the art endure beyond its context. Curator: Well, I'm glad we took a moment to pause here. I hadn’t considered how affecting such a simple sketch could be outside the cultural milieu of its origins. Editor: It has been delightful! I hope it has the same effect on everyone listening.