Boer met vier koeien 1891 - 1941

Editor: This pencil drawing, “Boer met vier koeien” or "Farmer with four cows," by Leo Gestel, is currently housed at the Rijksmuseum and was created sometime between 1891 and 1941. The simple lines create such a calm feeling, almost like a peaceful memory. What catches your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: What strikes me is how this seemingly simple depiction of rural life is laden with historical context. Consider the time period; late 19th to early 20th century, a period of massive industrialization and urbanization. How might this drawing be read as a commentary on those shifts? A nostalgic yearning, perhaps? Editor: That's a good point! I hadn’t really considered it beyond its surface beauty. So, the cows and the farmer become more than just… cows and a farmer? Curator: Precisely. And note the artist's choice of medium: pencil on paper. Inexpensive, easily accessible. Is Gestel perhaps democratizing the landscape genre, moving it away from the oil paints favored by the wealthy? Editor: I see, so the *materials* themselves speak to a wider socio-political idea about who art is for! The museum contextualization of this sketch also has implications... It almost romanticizes labour as a visual commodity, now displayed as a drawing of that period. Is this an ethical artistic commentary? Curator: Exactly! By placing it in the museum, we participate in that ongoing dialogue about labor, value, and the artist's role in society. These were all major social, political and artistic preoccupations as Gestel and his contemporaries were considering and shaping artistic progress in this era. Editor: This gives me so much to consider beyond just looking at the drawing itself. Thanks for helping me to understand this artwork from this socio-historical lens! Curator: It's through that expanded lens, analyzing art as part of its societal context, that we can understand it more richly. It shows us how political the pencil of an artist might be.