Interieur van landhuis De Wildbaan met jachttrofeeën aan de muur 1903 - 1907

Henry Pauw van Wieldrecht created this painting of a manor house interior, its walls adorned with hunting trophies. I can imagine the artist's meticulous layering, building up this somewhat macabre scene. He probably started with a light underpainting, then carefully rendering each animal head with precision. There are so many! It’s hard to know where to look. The cool grey tonality gives a certain atmosphere to the room – is it a bit spooky, or just matter-of-fact? Perhaps the artist was interested in ideas around what we consider beautiful and how it reflects our relationship with nature. You can sense his concentration, the countless hours spent studying the forms of these creatures and recreating their likenesses on the canvas. I like to think about how he’d maybe zoom in on the detail of an antler, get lost in it.