Hooibalen naast een boerderij c. 1879

Theo Hanrath sketched “Hay Bales Next to a Farmhouse" using graphite on paper during a period when the Netherlands was experiencing significant social and economic change. The late 19th century was a time of agricultural transition, with rural communities navigating industrialization. Hanrath, who came from a family of artists, captures a quiet scene that belies the broader shifts impacting Dutch society. The hay bales and farmhouse evoke a sense of traditional agrarian life, while the quick, almost urgent, strokes of graphite suggest an awareness of time's passage, a feeling that these scenes may not last. This work encourages us to consider the relationship between the land and its people, and invites us to reflect on the labor, lives, and landscapes that define a nation's identity. It is a visual elegy, quietly aware of a changing world.