Twee herten 1840 - 1880

Johannes Tavenraat made this sketch of two deer sometime in the mid-19th century. The Netherlands at this time was a constitutional monarchy, but still a society structured around class. This work invites us to consider the public role of art and the social conditions that shape its production. How are animals depicted? What kind of social and cultural values do these depictions represent? This simple pen drawing of deer is a window into a specific cultural moment. Note the absence of any kind of moralizing or allegorical symbolism. This is no longer the world of Aesop's fables. Instead, we see a turn toward an aesthetic of pure observation. Tavenraat was a landscape painter, and perhaps this study was intended as background for a larger painting. The historical interpretation of art depends on the careful analysis of such cultural shifts. By studying the institutional context of artistic production, we can come to a deeper understanding of what these images meant in their own time.