Vijver met cipressen 1912

Curator: Here we have Simon Moulijn’s “Vijver met cipressen,” or “Pond with Cypresses,” created in 1912. The artwork resides here at the Rijksmuseum and makes use of both pencil and coloured pencil in its creation. What are your initial impressions? Editor: It's remarkably serene. The muted palette and the soft reflections give it an almost dreamlike quality. The verticality of the cypresses contrasted against the horizontal plane of the pond create a satisfying visual rhythm. Curator: Moulijn worked during a period when Dutch artists were very engaged with intimism, depicting scenes of everyday life. This is an unusual landscape, however. The geometry feels almost…constructed. Editor: Precisely. The rigid, upright trees suggest a regimentation. Though the subject seems straightforward, the mood borders on melancholic; there's a tension there. The formal qualities evoke an unsettling precision. We see the controlled landscaping typical of gardens of that period, designed by and for the upper classes as controlled projections of nature for social status. Curator: I think that is true. Consider the artist’s strategic deployment of the media, then: pencil, overlaid by delicate washes of coloured pencil. Notice how this lends a soft focus effect to the scene. Editor: Indeed, but beyond technique, I see the symbolism. The cypress, historically, is associated with mourning and remembrance. Consider the public function of such landscapes: commemorative gardens where controlled aesthetic experiences provide cathartic spaces to privately perform the public rituals around loss, social bonding, and community identity. Curator: The choice of rendering also subtly alters the mood, though. Think about what the relatively coarse hatching and soft pastel palette creates here, almost as though we were viewing it through a scrim of time and memory. Editor: The pastel colours certainly lend it a romantic air. But I wonder if there's a statement about controlled access to mourning: is this garden equally accessible to all, or just an exclusive group who shape both memory and aesthetics? Curator: It prompts reflections on formal design and its symbolic use. Simon Moulijn encourages introspection in its most refined manner. Editor: Indeed. An intriguing combination of personal feeling expressed through very formal and public aesthetics.