Figuren in zeil-en roeiboten c. 1862 - 1864

Curator: This sketch is by Johannes Tavenraat, entitled "Figuren in zeil-en roeiboten," which translates to Figures in Sailing and Rowboats, dating from about 1862 to 1864. Editor: There's a ghostly, almost dreamlike quality to it. The figures are very lightly rendered, and those brown stains draw the eye. They disrupt the delicate compositions; a somber atmospheric feeling dominates. Curator: Yes, those spots are part of the work's history; accidental marks of its materiality and likely related to its display. But notice how Tavenraat used a common and accessible material - graphite, specifically - to produce an image associated with Romanticism, often characterized by an individual's emotions, here potentially one that favors feelings of peacefulness and introspection on the water, although this piece is really unfinished. What can be seen in these figures' daily maritime routines? Editor: Looking at the distribution of tone, Tavenraat is obviously concerned with the pure formalism of each component and how they relate spatially to each other, rather than the conditions of boat manufacture or these men's lives in total. I mean, the tilted mast against the angles of the hull – that’s classic compositional dynamics at play. How the eye is invited, from the bottom lying figure, upwards in these angular shapes. It's like he’s searching for the most geometrically pleasing arrangement, while the blotches anchor the drawing as a whole, connecting it, I believe, and making you question the idea of sketch itself. Is it simply preparatory material? Curator: Or is it a finished reflection on transient encounters? Perhaps the artist wants us to consider both form and context; Tavenraat's economical means and process of image-making allow access to his artistic thinking and wider questions about Dutch marine industry. Editor: That's true. There is an inherent grace and quiet to this piece overall, a reminder of how minimal visual language can express complex emotions. Curator: And maybe the tension of what constitutes fine art versus something quick that any artist, at the time, might produce.