Liggende koeien in een weiland bij Hillegersberg 1874 - 1876

This drawing of resting cows in a meadow near Hillegersberg was made by Johannes Tavenraat. With delicate strokes of ink, Tavenraat captures the essence of pastoral tranquility. The composition divides the scene horizontally, grounding the cows in their environment, while the muted tones evoke a serene, almost melancholic atmosphere. The cows themselves are rendered with an economy of line. Tavenraat destabilizes our conventional understanding of form. There is an underlying tension between representation and abstraction. The cows aren't meticulously detailed, yet their forms are immediately recognizable. Tavenraat engages with a broader artistic concern: the interplay between perception and representation. This seemingly simple sketch invites us to contemplate how we construct meaning from minimal visual cues. This sketch is not just a depiction of cows; it is a meditation on the act of seeing itself.