Landschap met wolkenlucht, een hond en een haas 1840 - 1868

Johannes Tavenraat made this pen and ink drawing of a landscape with cloudy sky, a dog and a hare, in the 19th century. Consider the contrast between the ephemeral subject matter – clouds, fleeting animals – and the relative permanence of the medium. With the stark lines of his pen, Tavenraat has sought to fix a moment in time, an encounter in the Dutch countryside. We might think of the landscape as a site of labor, of agriculture and the extraction of resources. Yet this drawing focuses on the scenery, rather than the human impact on the environment. The artist’s hand is evident in the confident strokes of the pen. The quick, assured marks of the artist's tool suggest a level of mastery achieved through dedication and skill. Such mastery, once highly prized, deserves our attention as much as the image itself.