Hooischuren aan het jaagpad 1895

Editor: Here we have "Hooischuren aan het jaagpad" - or "Hayricks on the towpath" - an etching by Pieter Dupont from 1895. It feels incredibly muted, almost melancholic in its palette. The detail is quite amazing given it’s a print. What leaps out at you when you look at this, what should viewers pay attention to? Curator: Ah, Pieter Dupont! He's whispering secrets in sepia tones, isn't he? The texture gets me—all that tiny, frantic energy etched into the metal. It makes me think of windswept fields and whispered gossip in the tall grass. Do you think it’s just me, or is there a longing here, for something rural and perhaps vanishing? Editor: I think I agree with you, it definitely gives that kind of sentimentality. With the style being rooted in both impressionism and realism, does the composition itself lead your eye to a particular focal point, or do you get lost in the weeds so to speak? Curator: "Lost in the weeds," I love that! Exactly the feeling Dupont is creating I think. The lack of a crisp focal point mirrors memory itself, right? Fleeting impressions, half-remembered smells and sounds... it all swirls together. Look how those hayricks almost melt into the sky! Did you expect that it almost looks like an unfinished artwork on purpose? Editor: Yes, but unfinished in a beautiful way! There’s so much to absorb in what seems a simple scene, the technique really shines through. I almost overlooked how the landscape perspective melds the scene together into something new. Curator: Right? Like a half-remembered dream you want to hold onto. Next time I pass a hayrick, I will have a new awareness and perspective!