Twee boeren leiden hun paarden door een dorp 1891 - 1941

Editor: We’re looking at "Two Farmers Leading Their Horses Through a Village" by Leo Gestel, made sometime between 1891 and 1941. It’s an ink drawing at the Rijksmuseum. It feels, well, almost folksy? The lines are so bold and the shapes are simple. What do you see in this piece that I might be missing? Curator: Oh, "folksy" is a lovely way to put it! It dances between simplicity and something deeper, doesn’t it? Gestel, you see, wasn’t just drawing horses; he was sketching out a feeling, an echo of rural life that maybe existed more in the memory than reality. Notice how the figures are outlined with a kind of joyful abandon, a few quick strokes to define their essence. Almost cartoonish but with the soul of Van Gogh lurking somewhere in the shadows. Don’t you think? Editor: Cartoonish, yes! I can totally see that. So, you’re saying the simplicity is deliberate, almost a way of romanticizing rural life? Curator: Precisely! It's like he’s plucked a scene from a child's storybook, yet those strong lines suggest something more elemental, a connection to the land that's both grounding and dreamlike. It makes me think of my own childhood holidays, rambling through fields that seemed to stretch forever. Does it trigger anything similar for you? Editor: It does make me think about fairy tales, actually. Thanks. Now I get a different feeling from it. It's no longer "folksy". Curator: Excellent! Art is a portal, isn’t it? A little ink, a few horses, and suddenly we’re galloping down memory lane! It shows that sometimes, it's the seemingly simple things that have the most to say. Editor: I'll definitely be looking at line drawings differently from now on.