Schetsblad met studies van schapen en een koeienkop 1857

Editor: Here we have Gerard Bilders' 1857 pencil sketch, "Schetsblad met studies van schapen en een koeienkop," currently held at the Rijksmuseum. I'm struck by the way the artist captures the texture of the animals' wool with such simple lines. What is your interpretation of this study sheet? Curator: It is a window into 19th-century academic training. Note how this drawing foregrounds the agricultural subject and locates them as the subject of artistic study. Can we not understand these types of works as products of artistic institutions interested in Realism, an attempt to ground fine art in quotidian imagery accessible to the public? Editor: That's interesting! So the rise of realism influenced what art students chose to depict? I suppose these farm animals would be relevant subjects. Curator: Exactly. Think about the role of art academies and the market for landscapes at the time. Artists like Bilders were responding to a demand for more relatable subjects than classical mythology. Moreover, these sketch sheets allowed a kind of ‘authenticity’ for the artist as researcher, someone engaged with modern, material life. Consider the sociopolitical context: agricultural life was romanticized. This is art that subtly reinforces the importance of rural life. Editor: It’s like the image is quietly advocating for this kind of… national identity. So different than idealized nudes from centuries prior. I wonder if these choices were Bilders’ alone, or driven by market and the Academy. Curator: Precisely. Were it not for institutions interested in advancing realism, Bilders may have depicted a completely different scene. Editor: I never considered how social forces and institutions shaped even the most seemingly simple sketches. It adds a whole new layer of meaning. Curator: And I’ve enjoyed considering how Bilders anticipated a later need to render common animals in a visually literate fashion.