Gezadeld paard, van opzij gezien 1841 - 1853

Curator: This drawing, titled "Gezadeld paard, van opzij gezien," or "Saddled Horse, Seen from the Side," was created by Johannes Tavenraat between 1841 and 1853. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum, rendered in pencil on paper. Editor: Hmm, feels like a fleeting moment captured, like a thought half-formed. There’s an undeniable grace, even in its unfinished state. The lines are so light; it's like the horse could just vanish back into the paper. Curator: Precisely! Note the deliberate use of line weight to suggest form. The areas where the pencil strokes are denser give weight to the saddle and the horse’s torso. There's a clear intention behind the execution, prioritizing structure over detailed representation. Editor: I dig that the whole horse isn’t really *there.* It asks my imagination to finish the picture, you know? What breed is it? What's its name? What is it thinking? All the feels are mine to play with. Curator: This speaks to the artistic practice of sketching—an exploration of form and movement intended, perhaps, for later, more formal application. You'll notice there's very little tonal variation, emphasizing outline and contour above all. This gives a flatter, more graphic reading overall. Editor: But isn't there something amazing about that? It has the vulnerability of an artist's sketchbook page. It's not trying to be perfect. There’s beauty in the immediacy, in seeing the artist think on paper. Almost like a poem. Curator: I concur. The work’s aesthetic lies precisely in its directness and apparent simplicity. We see the raw architecture of the horse. Its formal merits become all the more evident when its various structural elements can be appreciated in relative isolation. Editor: Looking at this just now, I kinda wish I knew what Tavenraat was humming to himself while he was drawing it. Curator: An interesting perspective on a concise artwork that successfully isolates the elemental structure and movement of a noble subject. Editor: Yeah, it's like catching a glimpse into the artist's heart. Fleeting, raw, and beautifully unfinished.