Dier in een wei 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing, 'Dier in een wei', with graphite on paper. This is not a high-status material like oil paint or bronze. Instead, it's the stuff of notebooks, of fleeting ideas. You see how the graphite line is tentative, searching. The artist is using the material to think. There is a cow, and a vague sense of pasture. It has the quality of a memory, something glimpsed. What I find interesting here is the labor of seeing, the labor of trying to capture a sense of place with minimal means. It is honest, unpretentious, and direct. It has a beauty all its own. By taking the time to look closely at it, we begin to recognize the value of its making.