Hooibergen bij een boerenhuis bij maanlicht 1876 - 1943

François Cachoud created this drawing of haystacks by a farmhouse under moonlight with pencil, crayon, and charcoal. It’s a nocturne in muted tones, like a memory softened by time. I imagine Cachoud outside at night, squinting in the moonlight, trying to capture the scene with a mix of precision and dreamy interpretation. What was it like for him, standing there, feeling the cool air, hearing the sounds of the night? Look at those haystacks – they’re like soft, glowing pyramids, solid yet somehow ethereal. The charcoal gives them depth, while the crayon hints at the golden straw within. You can almost feel the rough texture, smell the dry, earthy scent. Notice how the strokes of the pencil create the thatched roof of the farmhouse? There’s a delicate balance between detail and suggestion, realism and abstraction. Painters are always borrowing from each other, consciously or not. They use the same materials but transform them into something new. We build on what came before, each mark a conversation with the past and a gesture toward the future.