Drie koeien 1891 - 1941

Editor: So this is “Drie koeien,” or Three Cows, by Leo Gestel, created sometime between 1891 and 1941. It's a charcoal and pencil drawing. It feels… unfinished, raw even. What can you tell me about this work? Curator: I see a study in the process of image making itself. The very use of charcoal and pencil – readily available and relatively inexpensive materials – speaks to a democratization of art production. It implies a focus less on the final product and more on the act of observing and representing the natural world. Editor: So you see the materials as part of the message? I guess I usually just think of them as…tools. Curator: Precisely! Gestel wasn't necessarily trying to create a pristine, idealized image of cows. Instead, he's laying bare the mechanics of representation. Consider, too, the social context. During this period, there was increasing interest in depicting rural life and labor. What do these cows represent in that framework? Editor: Perhaps a grounding in the reality of the Dutch landscape? Farm labor being at the heart of Dutch industry… Curator: And consider who owned the means of production – the land, the cattle? Who profited from their labor? How does the accessibility of the drawing materials contrast with the ownership of the livestock themselves? Gestel highlights those very questions of labor and its place within Dutch society at that time. Editor: Wow. I never would have looked at it that way. I guess paying attention to the materiality reveals much about how economics influence a work! Curator: It also reminds us that what art *is* can include an artist sketching with readily available tools to explore the core components of art production itself, labor, material, and its ties to contemporary industry.