Workman beside a Mound of Peat, and a Peat Boat with Two Figures 1883

Curator: My first thought: weariness. Look at the thick, scratchy lines, almost frantic, depicting this bleak scene. Editor: We're observing "Workman beside a Mound of Peat, and a Peat Boat with Two Figures," a pen and ink drawing created by Vincent van Gogh in 1883. Curator: Bleak is the word. It really drills into you. The bowed figures, the squat, heavy house...and look, is that script all over the drawing itself? It is! Van Gogh's handwriting almost becomes another layer of oppression on top of these figures already bent with exhaustion. Editor: It certainly amplifies the density of the image. Notice how the artist utilizes hatching and cross-hatching to suggest depth and shadow. The penstrokes build layer upon layer. Observe, for instance, how it adds visual weight to the peat itself and in the figure closest to us. Van Gogh masterfully balances detail with the stark simplicity of the overall composition. The verticality provided in the second plane gives an illusion of balance. Curator: Balance, sure, but a tense sort. It feels almost voyeuristic, like we're intruding on lives stripped bare. The barest of necessities here, I am curious about his own feelings, you know? This sketch is done in the south-east of the Netherlands; it speaks volumes to who these people might have been for Van Gogh as inspiration. Editor: What do you feel as you view these workers toiling; these manual laborers quietly going about the quotidian routine; their everyday realities. What's revealed? How do you, in return, begin a relationship of empathy with the scene unfolding, given that the work comes to life when viewed with your presence, as viewer? Curator: Honestly, I’m left feeling a bit hollow, but also profoundly moved by van Gogh's empathy. You are moved by the realities of how society unfolds within an imagined space. Editor: Precisely, and how Van Gogh translated the harsh realities into lines of lasting power on paper, to be here exhibited for the gaze of all peoples today.