Grote boerenschuur, met een varkenshok ervoor 1880 - 1911

Pieter Dupont’s drawing presents a large farmhouse with a pigsty, rendered with careful detail in muted tones. The thatched roof, brickwork, and wooden fences speak to a rustic, agrarian lifestyle deeply rooted in the landscape. The image evokes a sense of enclosure and safety, with the sturdy farmhouse acting as a bulwark against the outside world. The fence, a recurring symbol in art, marks a boundary between the domestic and the wild, the known and the unknown. We find echoes of this motif in ancient Roman depictions of agricultural life. The symbolism of shelter carries a deep emotional weight. The farmhouse represents not only physical protection but also a psychological haven. The pigsty, seemingly humble, connects us to themes of sustenance, fertility, and the cyclical nature of life. The weathered textures and subdued colors evoke a feeling of nostalgia, tapping into our collective memory of simpler times. The farmhouse has reappeared in the Dutch collective imagination in different contexts, in different guises; it reflects a longing for an idealized past.