Staande koe, naar links 1775 - 1833

Curator: This is "Standing Cow, Facing Left," a drawing attributed to Jean Bernard, created sometime between 1775 and 1833. The medium is pencil on paper. Editor: It’s… quite charming, actually. There’s a certain simplicity in the lines. Almost feels like a study, a preparation for a larger work. It feels very grounded, like a humble scene of farm life. Curator: Precisely! Bernard was working at a time of increasing interest in agrarian life and the depiction of rural scenes. There was a cultural and political movement towards a glorification of the simple life, far removed from urban corruption. These images, while seemingly innocuous, reinforced particular values about the nation's relationship with nature and labor. Editor: So, the image normalizes a specific kind of labor: human labor. But what does that say about animal labor? The drawing has this strange flatness. It’s elegant but a little distancing, and I think that adds to its socio-political layer as well. Is it idealizing a patriarchal farm aesthetic? Curator: That's a astute reading of the image. You're drawing out some interesting points about the relationship between human and animal in that pastoral moment, absolutely. The seemingly simple, 'realistic' portrayal also served an ideological purpose. There was quite the popular market for these smaller works, allowing everyday Dutch citizens to feel a sense of connection to these agricultural advancements. Editor: This cow, though, she almost seems burdened by the composition itself. Not really celebrated for her labor but…staged. There's very little visual context here to distract the viewer from her very static pose and frame. Curator: Well, whether Bernard intentionally wanted to provoke such complicated questions is obviously uncertain, and up for the interpretation of each viewer. It would require more of his oeuvre, including its initial social reception. Editor: Perhaps we should seek to do so, I want to see more. Curator: Then onward to another piece we go.