Schaapskudde bij een schuur 1848 - 1888

Editor: Here we have Anton Mauve's "Schaapskudde bij een schuur," or "Sheepfold near a Shed," created sometime between 1848 and 1888. It’s a pencil drawing, quite simple, almost a sketch. I’m struck by how skeletal the composition is – it feels more about the essence of form than any real detail. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Indeed. Let us focus on the elements at hand. Observe the economy of line; each stroke defines the spatial relationship. Consider the hatching employed to describe the shadowed plane beneath the suggested roof. Do you find a distinct rhythm created by the varying pressure of the pencil? Editor: I do notice that now that you mention it! There’s a very delicate pressure used for what must be the sheep themselves and the distant field, versus much more assertive marks to create the barn. Curator: Precisely. Note the relationship between the structural components. The vertical lines of the support beams intersect with the implied horizontal plane of the roof, establishing a clear foreground and background. It uses suggestion more than statement. Editor: That is true, you can definitely still interpret things like distance and mass, even though so little is actually drawn! The formal properties do all the work to lead the eye. Thanks, I think I understand the work a little bit more by analyzing its basic structural composition. Curator: It is in understanding these structures, however elementary or elaborate, that the foundations of appreciation are laid.