Herders met een kudde koeien in het landschap c. 1849 - 1870

Curator: "Herders met een kudde koeien in het landschap," or "Herdsmen with a Herd of Cows in the Landscape," dating roughly from 1849 to 1870, an engraving by Auguste Numans. The subject matter reminds us of a rapidly changing world. Editor: The monochrome palette is surprisingly soothing. The engraving technique creates a stunning range of values— the detail on those cows drinking from the water’s edge is remarkable. The whole piece has such an even tone. Curator: Numans captures the mundane life of 19th century agrarian Dutch society with an even-handed tone and incredible specificity. He's memorializing these agrarian workers while also making them an anonymous, and arguably even small, part of this big flat landscape. We could argue the symbolism addresses the political atmosphere of the time, or at least gestures at the social transformations then unfolding across the Dutch countryside. Editor: Yes, and the horizon line. How carefully the tonal gradations create distance! You get such a deep sense of receding space. Notice how he captures reflected light on the surface of the water! The formal execution makes it, for me, a work of pure beauty, where form communicates both subject and a definite, if unstated, perspective. Curator: Consider the market at the time. Genre painting depicting agrarian labor found a new and engaged audience thanks to broad political reforms during the same era, the social structure of the art market was very aware of itself as an area for ideological discourse. Editor: I am compelled to look at how the textures—of grass, fur, sky, even the hint of buildings in the distance—are created entirely by the manipulation of line. It’s the distillation of form to its most essential components. Curator: Numans and his contemporaries played an active role in picturing their own place and time, turning a moment of change into the every-day. Editor: This has helped me recognize how something seemingly conventional can, through expert formal management, offer up unexpected discoveries.