Twee stropers jagen een haas op 1831 - 1846

Curator: Here we have "Twee stropers jagen een haas op," which roughly translates to "Two Poachers Hunting a Hare," by François Grenier, dating from 1831 to 1846. It's an etching with watercolor. Editor: There's a frantic energy to it. The diagonal lines of the field and the running figures create a strong sense of motion and disruption to a placid rural idyll. The hazy quality softens it somehow, though. Curator: The composition really emphasizes the chase. We have the hare in the foreground, fleeing to the left, with one poacher taking aim and another flailing his arms wildly in the background, likely trying to flush out the animal. The eye is led across the picture plane, very carefully. Editor: What do you make of the second poacher's gestures? They seem almost ritualistic. It feels like a scene lifted from folklore. Are they using some sort of ancient signal to confuse the hare? Is it connected to any symbolic meanings ascribed to hares? Fertility or perhaps mischief, considering they are poaching? Curator: It's fascinating to think of how poaching becomes this symbol of rebellion or survival against established order and law. There is certainly that undercurrent of social commentary. Consider also the balance and asymmetry within the frame. Grenier contrasts light and shadow; the dense texture of the vegetation in the foreground and the ethereal quality of the clouds overhead. Editor: And that sense of encroaching darkness hints at a deeper anxiety. The poachers aren’t simply seeking food; the act carries undertones of transgression against natural and societal laws, echoed in the heavy, expectant sky. Curator: I agree. It captures a moment poised between tradition, the hunt as cultural performance, and modernity—an emerging legal framework challenged by those living on the margins. The visual harmony suggests a structured chaos that informs much of Grenier’s social narratives. Editor: For me, I leave this artwork pondering on these enduring visual cues for the idea of forbidden freedom, played out between humans and animals against the landscape. Curator: Indeed, a complex piece when you start dissecting it and thinking about visual signs, forms, lines and their context within its history.