Landschap met een huis en boom c. 1876 - 1879

Curator: I see ghosts in this drawing! Faint, hazy memories shimmering off the page. Editor: Here at the Rijksmuseum we have Anton Mauve's "Landschap met een huis en boom," a landscape with a house and tree, likely created between 1876 and 1879. The artwork makes use of pencil to capture the impression of the scene, prioritizing realism over all else. Curator: Realism? Oh, I see what you mean, that humble attempt to simply capture the moment, almost reverently. But that fragile, tentative line? It dissolves any harsh edges. Everything wavers into something almost… dreamlike. Editor: Mauve's landscapes often capture these quiet, pastoral scenes, reflecting the rising popularity of rural escapes among urban populations during this period. The house isn't grandiose but feels integrated within its surroundings, perhaps reflecting the social yearning for simplicity. Curator: Exactly! And that tree! Tall, gaunt, reaching, like a beckoning finger into… nothingness? Or maybe it's guiding lost souls home, that home being art. Oh, listen to me, babbling. Sorry. Editor: No, not at all! The suggestive quality is indeed interesting. Mauve trained his nephew, Vincent van Gogh. You can almost see echoes of Vincent’s own restless energy in Mauve's striving line work, which might lead us to wonder if Van Gogh drew his expressiveness solely out of himself, or was already somewhat predisposed by teachers such as Mauve. Curator: And doesn’t it give you goosebumps when you feel these invisible tendrils connecting artworks across time? I suppose that’s how some people experience ghosts. To be touched by a spirit that exists only within your imagination is to expand and grow as a human. This isn’t realism but rather real magic, am I right? Editor: Well, it’s a magic created out of social shifts, the development of new markets for art, and personal connections that spanned across artistic schools of the day, from the Hague School to early Impressionism, among others. What persists, however, is our urge to seek patterns out of history, just as much as Mauve looked for beauty when drawing this humble house and tree.