Koe in landschap 1809 - 1860

Hendrikus van de Sande Bakhuyzen made this tiny drawing of a cow in a landscape. It's made with pen and ink on paper. It’s easy to miss the labor in something like this, but look closely, and you'll begin to see the thousands of tiny marks that make up the image. It has a sketch-like quality, as if the artist was trying to capture the animal in a fleeting moment. Look at the way the lines vary in thickness and density, creating a sense of light and shadow, and the musculature of the animal. The rest of the scene, including a figure with another cow in the background, is even more loosely rendered. It's clear that van de Sande Bakhuyzen was interested in the texture and form, of the cow’s body. Drawings like this were often made as studies for larger paintings, or as independent works of art to be sold to collectors. Consider the artist as a kind of factory, converting raw materials into cultural products. Appreciating the labor and skill of an artist like van de Sande Bakhuyzen helps us to understand the value and complexity of the work.