Winterlandschap met koeien en schaatsers 1783

Curator: Welcome. We’re looking at Johannes Janson’s "Winter Landscape with Cows and Skaters," created around 1783. It’s an engraving, a print, residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Artist: It feels...sparse. Like winter stripped bare. I’m immediately drawn to the leafless trees; their skeletal branches scratching at that heavy, textured sky. Curator: Interesting choice of words! That starkness speaks directly to the realities of rural life in the Dutch Golden Age. Engravings like these were commodities, circulating images, shaping perceptions of landscape and leisure. The artist, Janson, tapped into a market that desired scenes reflecting daily existence. Artist: "Daily existence," yes, but heightened, romanticized. I can almost feel the brittle cold. The tiny figures skating—are they enjoying themselves or just trying to get somewhere? There's an underlying sense of both work and play. And the cows just casually plodding along - like time is immaterial to them! Curator: Those "casually plodding" cows are quite crucial to the material narrative! Dutch agriculture heavily relied on livestock. The presence of these cows underlines the economic foundation of the winter scene; livestock, transportation, leisure... it is all interrelated in this epoch. It's a study of human, animal, and land entanglement within 18th century Netherlands. Artist: Entanglement - I like that. It reminds me of how interconnected we still are, despite all our modern advancements. The clouds practically sit on the rooftops of that village, linking man and weather... that seems like a tangible reality to me, and speaks on the importance of landscape during the Golden Age. Curator: It speaks, arguably, to the modes of production in Dutch visual culture as well, the role of printed images in solidifying ideas of nation and landscape. We’re seeing the rise of the idea of leisure too - the everyday person as subject in art! Artist: Exactly. It gives this scene a relatable touch. A sort of human charm, a delicate touch. Almost feels like memory itself. That soft texture in the etching supports a melancholic aesthetic! Curator: Melancholic indeed, and very calculated, a part of visual strategies deployed during that period. Now, think about the socio-economic landscape and conditions behind Janson’s choices! Artist: That sort of thinking does tether you back to the tangible world! I am thankful for both sides of the conversation now. Curator: As am I, finding commonality in production and practice is my central aim!