Landweg met hooischelven 1904 - 1952

Curator: This drawing, "Landweg met hooischelven," meaning "Country Road with Haystacks," is attributed to Jo Bezaan and estimated to have been created sometime between 1904 and 1952. The Rijksmuseum holds this landscape which uses charcoal. Editor: Immediately striking is how the charcoal captures the density and weight of the haystacks. It feels like I could touch the texture, the very process of binding straw rendered in this dark, almost smudged medium. Curator: Yes, there's a deliberate choice of rendering quotidian structures, haystacks that are imbued with the cultural memory of the agrarian Netherlands. In art history, haystacks can often symbolize a sense of place and tradition, invoking deeper sentiments about land ownership. Editor: And it speaks to the physical labor, doesn’t it? Look at the lines etched to capture thatching: how many hands, how much time went into forming those shelters. I see this art less as representation, and more a record of human making. Curator: You highlight the artist's intent. Looking closely at the sinuous road, consider it's an enduring symbol for journeys. Are we on a personal journey or are we on a communal journey to a hopeful future after war times? Editor: Given the timeframe, the spectre of conflict definitely hovers here, though I wonder if Bezaan’s primary goal was to grapple with something far simpler – the immediacy of light hitting those rural materials. The road seems so empty and yet so inviting to a traveler. Curator: It reminds me of traditional agrarian societies around the world and across time. Whether a viewer today is in awe or is reminded of childhood, the landscape resonates universally and offers psychological succor. Editor: Absolutely. The work allows for the kind of pondering that gets lost in fast modern living. The means, materials, and that stark road. It encourages me to look closer at the way everyday forms speak volumes about our relation to place.