Landschap met landbouwgrond en een molen 1854 - 1868

This is a landscape with farmland and a mill, by Johannes Tavenraat. The sepia ink drawing uses only line to bring the image to life. The composition guides the viewer through farmland to a distant windmill, but it is interrupted by a collection of frantic scribbles in the bottom left corner, which could either be notes, or abstract forms that provide an alternative to the pastoral scene beyond. Tavenraat’s use of line is striking. Notice how he uses the materiality of the ink and the fineness of the nib to create a sense of distance: up close the windmill is just a collection of hatched lines, but from afar it can be seen as a fully functioning machine. The flatness of the page is undermined by this suggestion of depth. Ultimately, this drawing, with its lines and semiotic codes, isn't just a visual record of a scene. It functions as a complex interplay between reality, representation, and the artist's perception.