Zittende man met strohoed onder een groepje bomen before 1917

Curator: So here we have Matthijs Maris's, "Zittende man met strohoed onder een groepje bomen", or, "Seated Man with Straw Hat under a Clump of Trees." It's a pencil and graphite drawing, dating from before 1917 and residing here at the Rijksmuseum. My first thought? This poor drawing has been through it! Editor: You're right. It’s definitely seen better days—the large tear makes it look like it was pulled from a forgotten sketchbook. But there's a kind of melancholic beauty to that, isn't there? The visible marks and damages give it an extra layer of history and… vulnerability. Curator: Vulnerability, yes! Precisely the word I was grasping for. You see this solitary figure beneath the trees. It looks as though Maris is contemplating the passage of time, decay, even oblivion. Notice how lightly the man is rendered versus the darker density of the trees; that juxtaposition creates a strong sense of impermanence, of life's fragility. Editor: I agree. I am interested by that solitary figure, but, thinking about the historical context, artists like Maris grappled with industrialization and its effects on the landscape and on people’s well-being. Perhaps this scene also evokes the isolation and alienation of modern life creeping into a traditional rural scene. Curator: An astute reading! And looking at it again with that in mind, I see the sketchiness of the work echoing this idea of disruption. It’s not a finished, polished picture but a fragment, just as the depicted rural idyll is only a fragment in the face of encroaching modernity. What's missing feels as important as what’s present. Editor: Exactly. And the very preservation, and indeed the act of exhibiting this damaged work within a national institution like the Rijksmuseum, forces us to consider what we value and what we choose to preserve. This modest work speaks volumes about how we reckon with progress and its costs. Curator: I love that! From neglected fragment to a poignant reflection on value and loss. Makes you wonder what stories this little drawing could tell if it could talk. Editor: Indeed. It prompts a wider reflection on who is missing from those stories. Food for thought.