Boerderijen en hooischuren te Zwolle c. 1631 - 1633

Gerard ter Borch II sketched ‘Boerderijen en hooischuren te Zwolle’ using pen and ink, a slice of 17th century Dutch rural life. Ter Borch, born into a society undergoing significant economic and social transformation, often depicted the lives of the affluent. Yet here, he turns his attention to the countryside, capturing the architectural forms of farm buildings and hayricks with careful detail. What does it mean for an artist known for his sophisticated interior scenes, to focus on the rural landscape? Is this an idealized vision? During this period the Dutch countryside was not just a backdrop but a place of labor and sustenance, bound to the rhythms of nature. Ter Borch gives us insight into the ordinary structures of rural life, where the societal hierarchy of the era played out even in the simplest of settings.