Lying cattle to the right 

Curator: We’re standing in front of "Lying Cattle to the Right", an ink drawing currently held at the Städel Museum. Its creator is Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt. Editor: It’s surprisingly soothing, isn't it? All soft lines and earth tones. Like a fuzzy, slightly judgemental, cloud just parked itself on the page. Curator: Indeed. Hirt, through his art, was subtly engaging with early Realism. He meticulously depicted the details and textures of the animal, seemingly aiming for objective accuracy. Yet his realism arguably becomes imbued with genre-painting tropes by selecting such a common subject, which invites us to ponder social, agricultural, and gendered dynamics of land use at that time. Editor: I can almost feel the warmth radiating from that beast. It feels grounded, unbothered. Like, “Yeah, I'm a cow, what’s it to ya?” I almost want to scratch behind its ears! Do you think Hirt had a particular bovine in mind when he made this? Curator: One imagines Hirt, influenced by philosophies of naturalism, meticulously studied the rural labor of the animal, so he may very well have had a bovine muse! Its positioning dominates our perception and it might serve to critique the social structures reflected in its humble everydayness. Editor: It's almost meditative to study how he captured its bulk with such minimal lines. I feel it encapsulates something profoundly simple. How, when looking at it now, one sees commentaries on labor or genre. I mainly feel an overwhelming desire for a nap under a big tree. Curator: I appreciate how you observe it, with its seeming emphasis on quiet dignity of life and pastoral scenes. The drawing prompts critical reflections on intersecting histories and the representation of often-overlooked actors within society, I think. Editor: I like our interpretations a lot. Thanks, let’s go get ice cream. Curator: Agreed!