Lying calf to the right 

Curator: Immediately, the gentle ochre hues create such a tranquil and pastoral sensation. Editor: I concur. It’s deceptively simple; just a reclining calf, captured with red chalk, it seems. The title notes it as "Lying calf to the right," and it currently resides at the Städel Museum. Curator: The choice of medium is key. Red chalk possesses a unique warmth, echoing the creature's very lifeblood. We read the calm demeanor of the animal, almost suggesting vulnerability in its repose. Editor: True, but I wonder about the artist's intention behind selecting this particular animal to portray and his choice of materials. Was red chalk readily available? What kind of market or social context influenced his creation of this calf drawing? Did it have practical applications? Was the artist perhaps studying bovine anatomy for future works? Curator: It is striking to view it now within our culture where cattle retain that resonance, summoning similar visual and psychological shorthands in viewers that relate back through art history. Editor: Perhaps; I can see echoes to many a history painting from that period or slightly after, but those high-art narratives are not the reason for being of farm animals, which provide essential, basic value, and whose images are replicated because of the importance to people and their ways of living. Curator: I wonder if its relative simplicity helps give the image accessibility across time. People from vastly different epochs and belief systems can respond with an easy feeling to its calm character. The universality feels archetypal, something ingrained within us. Editor: I’m mostly wondering what that particular shade of red chalk cost in its time! Did he mine it himself, perhaps? What does this tell us about art production then, the value attached to simple images created by readily available matter? Curator: I leave thinking the appeal and emotional depth stem from a shared visual vocabulary. Editor: And for me, from pondering on how materials influence the final look of a piece and its resonance to others.