Boerderij met hooischelf c. 1905

This small, delicate etching by Willem de Zwart pictures a farmhouse with a hayrick. Can’t you just imagine the artist, squinting in the sun, meticulously rendering each thatched roof and weathered plank? The scene is built from a web of delicate lines, each one a testament to the artist's careful hand. I find myself wondering, did he sketch this scene first? Or was it all there, on the plate, emerging line by line like a memory? And those hayricks, like silent sentinels guarding the farm. They remind me of Guston’s late paintings, these odd architectural forms looming with a kind of quiet authority. Perhaps de Zwart was thinking of the Dutch Masters as he made this, or maybe he was just trying to capture the feeling of a warm summer day. Either way, it’s a gem.