Sparren en dennenbomen after 1854

Curator: Standing before "Sparren en dennenbomen"—Spruce and Fir Trees—a pencil drawing on paper by Johannes Tavenraat, from after 1854, now held at the Rijksmuseum... my first thought is of winter. Bleak and whispering. What catches your eye? Editor: Initially, just the sketch-like quality – it’s almost more notes than artwork, right? A feeling of transience. Yet, beneath that…a primal forest is taking shape, with its symbolic language rooted deep in the collective unconscious. Curator: Precisely! Tavenraat was clearly immersed in observation here, mapping not just trees but perhaps, in some ways, the structure of being itself. What signs and suggestions do these arboreal forms contain for you? Editor: It seems to show how forests function as transitional spaces, almost threshold-like realms between consciousness and mystery. And here we are, peeking into that. The trees aren’t individualized so much as represented as components. We could almost assign these spruces and firs the archetype of “eternal guardians." Curator: Tavenraat's use of line evokes a palpable sense of texture. The weight and direction of the lines bring out their density; how they tangle at times; a raw vitality in these…sentinels. Do you notice something familiar here as well? I am sensing watercolor paints here also. Editor: Yes, I love the seeming unfinished-ness – the deliberate choice to keep things suggestive rather than definitive. In this case it allows me to bring in my own interpretation or experience and meet Tavenraat half way into making it a collaborative experience as one might discover, looking deep into their self to meet another half to meet the One. I may sound rather Romantic when I interpret but I sense many possible ways forward by looking at how open everything in the piece is... Curator: It definitely leaves an impression – a delicate yet resolute invitation to find the ancient forest within oneself. Editor: Beautifully said!