Boerderij tussen bomen c. 1885

Willem de Zwart created this artwork, "Boerderij tussen bomen," using paint on cardboard with modest dimensions. At first glance, you may experience its hazy, near-monochromatic palette, evoking a sense of indistinct memory or dream. The composition teeters on the edge of abstraction; only upon closer inspection do the forms suggest a landscape. The textured brushstrokes don't merely depict reality, but almost seem to embody it. The way the artist applied paint, in short, broken strokes, serves as a semiotic system. Each stroke functions as a sign, contributing to a reading of the whole. The artist here destabilizes established meanings through visual language; one is left questioning whether the subject is landscape or a study in pure form and texture. The very materiality of the paint becomes a philosophical tool—a means to investigate perception and representation. It encourages viewers to consider how we construct meaning from fragments, much like how memory itself operates.