Springend paard, in het veld 1840 - 1880

Curator: Here we have a piece titled "Springend paard, in het veld," or "Jumping Horse, in the Field," by Johannes Tavenraat. Created between 1840 and 1880, this drawing employs ink on paper. It resides here with us at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Wow, that horse! It looks like pure, unbridled joy, caught mid-leap. It’s kind of minimalist but feels super dynamic. Like a moment plucked right out of a dream about freedom. Curator: Indeed, there's a powerful sense of movement, a hallmark of both Romanticism and Realism, movements Tavenraat seemed to navigate fluidly. Drawings like this one were popular during the period to evoke and convey raw emotional states as much as they represented scenes or beings, and we must not forget the influence of artistic patronage during the Biedermeier era. Editor: I love how spare it is. You get just enough of the landscape to ground the horse, but really, it's all about the animal's energy. I imagine the artist just pausing by a window and capturing a moment of daily beauty—or maybe projecting some fantasy. The little smudge by the horse’s nose even looks like pixie dust, so I am thinking there must be some projected fantasies here. Curator: Consider the social implications as well. Horses were essential for transportation and agriculture, which gave rise to equestrian portraiture to signify not just wealth, but social standing. An artist making drawings of animals, divorced from the social utility, reflects changing economic norms. It also allows a focus away from work or production, towards a creature in a state of pleasure or being. Editor: Right. It strips away all the stuffy historical baggage, the power plays and class statements, and just lets you see this beautiful, wild creature existing for itself. As someone who’s worked on environmental activism, this feels like it has the core right; we forget the simple elegance of animals, which here the artist is making sure not to do. Curator: The artwork becomes an articulation of shifting societal values and a microcosm reflecting those changing values of the period. Editor: Well said. Makes me want to trade my shoes for hooves, or at least gallop out into the nearest meadow. Curator: Yes, it’s a fine work in capturing an exhilarating feeling.