Koe in de weide 1799 - 1854

Editor: This is "Koe in de weide" – Cow in the Meadow – by Andries Leijerdorp, dating from somewhere between 1799 and 1854. It's a drawing, or rather an engraving, of a cow. It feels incredibly...stark. Just a cow. A very detailed cow, I'll give you that. What do you make of it? Curator: Stark is a great word. I see it and feel a sort of humble quietness. It’s more than just a cow, isn’t it? Look at the detail Leijerdorp gives to the landscape, that single tree – isn’t there a loneliness there? And then consider the period. What did rural life mean then? This isn't a romantic portrait. Editor: I suppose it's a slice of reality then, maybe even social commentary. The cow seems almost burdened, stoic even. You see that in its posture, yes? Curator: Exactly! And the medium itself – engraving – demands a certain deliberateness, a slowness. It’s not a fleeting impression, but something studied, considered. He wants you to truly *see* the cow, the field. But why just one cow? Where are the other cows? Is that another small herd further away? Editor: Maybe he wanted to capture the essence of "cow-ness," to present it to an urban audience unfamiliar with rural life. Curator: Or perhaps to elevate the everyday. Think about the Dutch Masters and their still lifes. Maybe this is a still life, just…with a cow? What do you think of the fine detail and minimal lines of the trees, sky, or fur of the animal? Editor: I hadn't thought about it like that! Seeing it as elevating the mundane opens a whole new way to see it. A really simple way that's not so stark after all, you know? Curator: Precisely. We bring our own world view into art, or it is meaningless. That cow can suddenly tell us so much. I was expecting 'stark,' and you changed that into ‘simple', which sounds beautiful somehow.