Paarden en figuren voor een boerderij met hooiopper 1839

Johannes Tavenraat made this sketch of horses and figures before a farmhouse with a hayrick using graphite on paper. The strokes of graphite have a directness that suggests the artist worked quickly, perhaps on-site, capturing a fleeting moment of rural life. You can see how the artist uses a range of marks, from the delicate lines that define the figures to the heavier shading that gives volume to the hayrick. The social context is subtly embedded in the scene. The figures, the horses burdened with goods, the haystack: each element speaks to the labor-intensive nature of agricultural work. The roughness of the sketch itself reflects the unvarnished reality of rural existence. Paying attention to these materials and processes allows us to appreciate not just the skill of the artist, but also the social fabric that his work captures.