Twee met sprokkelhout beladen paardenkarren 1848 - 1888

Anton Mauve sketched these two horse carts laden with firewood. Even in this quick impression, we recognize the age-old motif of burden-bearing, a theme resonating throughout art history. Think of Atlas, the Titan condemned to carry the world on his shoulders, a symbol of endurance but also of crushing weight. Here, the horses, silhouetted against the landscape, pull their heavy loads; they evoke a similar, albeit more humble, form of labor. The wood they carry, essential for warmth and life, also speaks to the cyclical nature of existence. This motif of bearing burdens and the cyclical nature of resources resonates powerfully with our shared human experience, surfacing again and again in different forms, proving how images, in their emotional and cultural weight, connect across time and space.