Donkere en witte liggende koe 1796 - 1845

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have "Donkere en witte liggende koe," a drawing and engraving by Anthony Oberman, dating from between 1796 and 1845. What do you make of its composition? Editor: My first impression is one of rustic simplicity, almost meditative. The texture is remarkable for an engraving, the varying line weights creating a tangible sense of depth and volume. Curator: Indeed. The positioning of the cows, one dark and one light, becomes particularly interesting when considering 18th and 19th-century rural Dutch society. Cows represented prosperity but also the exploitation of the animal as property, which relates to broader themes about the human-animal bond, the land, and the labor involved in animal husbandry. Editor: You make an excellent point. But on its own, the work's balance is captivating, with the strong horizontals of the reclining cows contrasted by the verticality of the fence. Notice how Oberman used hatching and cross-hatching to describe the forms and how he achieved such tonal variation with simple linear means. It’s technically superb. Curator: And technically reproductive too. Oberman did not create the original drawing for this image. Rather, he produced it after an earlier drawing that itself could be seen to depict the artist’s nostalgia for a simpler, rural life during a time of enormous economic, political, and social change. These cows, as representatives of pastoral ideal, reinforce an imagined idyllic past. Editor: Fascinating how an apparently straightforward representation transforms with socio-historical context. What seemed a quiet observation is now laden with societal implication. Curator: Absolutely. Understanding this layering, it becomes much more. Editor: I now see more depth within Oberman's choices, and more subtle power.