Buitenhuis tussen bomen 1864 - 1936

Curator: What a haunting little glimpse! Jan van Essen’s drawing, "Buitenhuis tussen bomen," which roughly translates to "Country House Between Trees," beckons from… well, sometime between 1864 and 1936. Editor: It does feel spectral. The bare trees clawing at the sky, that pale house…it's like a memory surfacing. The texture gives a raw intimacy to the drawing. Curator: Indeed. Van Essen’s work, often focusing on cityscapes, really captures the feeling of that time. Drawn in pencil and pen, it’s that liminal space, I think, between wildness and cultivation—a house stubbornly holding onto order while nature threatens to swallow it whole. Editor: I think you have a point! But it almost has a quiet rebellion embedded within it, almost whispering stories about what life must've been like back then. It is really up to the eye of the beholder! Curator: In its subdued tones, I can imagine it challenging the period’s obsession with idealized rural scenes. But also thinking about the cultural context. This almost sketch-like quality makes you think: Was it just that a captured fleeting moment or just someone experimenting with shapes and ideas? Editor: Possibly! I guess there's beauty even in incomplete attempts or unfinished things. If you go beyond a first impression, you almost get the gist of the era as he lived it. And there are parts of that drawing that suggest comfort in repetition but I don't think it should be read necessarily with nostalgic reverence. Curator: Absolutely, it transcends nostalgia! By inviting people to experience it using the cultural lens from which Van Essen created "Buitenhuis tussen bomen" from his personal experiences as a reference! The fact that we get to glimpse through this intimate picture in time. Editor: Exactly! Let’s leave our listeners to ponder that image of balance, and impermanence, then. Thank you!