Landschap met een koe en een boer 1834 - 1911

Jozef Israëls made this watercolor painting, *Landscape with a Cow and a Farmer*. Watercolor is a very direct medium. The artist mixes pigment with water and applies it to paper. Here, Israëls’s light, fluid strokes of color are delicately layered, creating a hazy, dreamlike effect. The translucent quality of the paint allows the white of the paper to shine through, adding luminosity to the scene. Watercolor also lends itself to rapid execution, fitting well with the artist's commitment to depicting the life of the working class. As Israëls suggests the relationship between man and animal in a rural setting, the painting becomes more than just a pretty picture. It speaks to the fundamental relationship between labor, land, and sustenance. By focusing on the material qualities and the process of painting, we can appreciate the artwork as more than just a visual representation, but as a cultural artifact embedded with layers of meaning.