Landschap met drinkende koeien 1850 - 1878

Editor: Here we have "Landscape with Drinking Cows" by Charles-François Daubigny, created sometime between 1850 and 1878, using pencil. It's quite subtle, almost dreamlike. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Immediately, the drawing’s direct connection to labor comes to mind. This isn't just about aesthetic representation; it’s about the physical act of Daubigny creating the work en plein air. You can imagine the materiality of the pencil scratching across the paper, subject to weather, his hand and body physically making marks, not unlike a farm worker engaged with a similar landscape. Editor: That’s interesting! So, you see the physical process as a key component of the artwork's meaning? Curator: Absolutely. Look at the repeated lines, the layering, and the visible pentimenti. These aren’t mistakes, but traces of Daubigny wrestling with the material to capture a fleeting moment in the landscape. What do you think the implications are of Daubigny foregoing oils to produce this work only in pencil? Editor: Perhaps it reflects an urge to return to basics or to engage more directly with nature, or simply make something quickly and easily reproducible? It does make me consider Daubigny's labour alongside that of the milkmaids using the river in their dairy making! Curator: Exactly. The choice of medium, and the directness of its application, collapses traditional boundaries between art and the everyday materials and labor of life. Are you seeing what I see? Editor: Yes! Thinking about it as an object born out of labor and a reflection of it is a fresh perspective for me. Curator: Hopefully you will be exploring artworks through this lens for the rest of your career.