Landschap met drie paarden 1811 - 1867

Editor: We're looking at "Landschap met drie paarden" (Landscape with Three Horses), an etching by Christiaan Wilhelmus Moorrees, dating sometime between 1811 and 1867. I'm immediately struck by the contrast – one horse, grounded and solid, observes two others running wild in the background. How do you interpret this work? Curator: This etching offers a lens into 19th-century Dutch society's evolving relationship with nature and animal representation. The grounded horse, a darker, more substantial presence, could represent the burdens of labor and societal expectations, whilst the other horses seem free, untouched by constraint. How does it speak to our present? Can you see the potential critique of exploiting animals through genre-painting like this? Editor: That’s a very insightful way to consider it! The grounded horse, viewed in this way, certainly contrasts with the freedom of the running horses. Were representations of working animals common during this time? Curator: Genre-paintings depicting working-class people and the animals that worked alongside them certainly found their space on walls during the era. There is an ambivalence in the representation. How can we read images that are often seen as celebratory of working life through a more critical lens? Editor: I see what you mean. We have to consider who had the privilege to enjoy such images on their walls, and at whose expense such a lifestyle came. I had never looked at genre-paintings this way! Curator: Precisely! These artworks are embedded in complex power dynamics and economic realities that contemporary theories like ecocriticism help us unpack. Looking closely and asking hard questions allow us to understand the social landscape. Editor: It really reframes the entire image. Thanks! Curator: It’s all about seeing the threads connecting art to life, and acknowledging that the past continues to shape our present perceptions.