Shepherd with Flock near a Little Church at Zweeloo 1883

Editor: Van Gogh's "Shepherd with Flock near a Little Church at Zweeloo" from 1883, rendered in charcoal and pastel... It feels quite somber, almost stark. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a pointed commentary on the labor embedded within faith and rural life. Look at the marks: the charcoal is aggressively applied to the architecture and ground and the softness of the pastel creates that flock of sheep. There is no room for pleasant pastorals; his stark method creates an image where spiritual life is also hard labor. Editor: So you're saying the *way* he's drawing emphasizes the work, not just what is literally depicted? Curator: Exactly! Consider the historical context. The rise of industrial capitalism led to both the mechanization of labor and a sense of alienation. Van Gogh here seems to collapse spiritual and physical existence and critique idealised pictures of either. He shows labor involved in making a home, tending to others, even as he represents a devotional existence. How are we consuming the image, too? The rough materials remind us that we are only seeing it from a specific distance. Editor: That makes sense. I hadn’t thought about how the materials themselves are doing some of the “talking,” contributing to a broader social understanding. Curator: Right, it challenges our expectations, that the church isn’t rendered like stained glass, full of colorful light. Instead, it feels like another physical burden to which one must be bound. Editor: I'll definitely pay closer attention to materials from now on and see how they affect meaning, and consider how that also reflects social conditions. Thanks! Curator: Likewise! Thinking about art’s production is never time wasted.