Man trekt onwillig paard de heuvel op c. 1825 - 1827

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to a print from around 1825, attributed to Bernard Édouard Swebach: "Man trekt onwillig paard de heuvel op" – or, "Man dragging unwilling horse up a hill.” Editor: It's stark, almost aggressively so. The harsh monochrome amplifies the struggle; the poor animal looks like it’s fighting for its very existence. A dark drama unfolding on a diminutive scale. Curator: It's an engraving, so yes, delicate lines building to intense shadows. You pick up on the drama that Swebach, even within the established conventions of Romantic landscape, depicts. Look how the man strains against the horse – a visible exertion that communicates tension and imbalance. Editor: Right, imbalance – physically, but symbolically too, perhaps? The rider’s posture speaks of an assertion of dominance, and the horse seems to symbolize something like untamed, wild nature forced into the service of will. Is that too cliché? Curator: No, that reading makes perfect sense. Especially if you consider the period's obsession with the Sublime, and humanity's complex relationship with the natural world, of control and awe, or fear of nature’s brute strength. Note how he places tiny soldiers behind them. Editor: Good catch! Almost an army on the horizon reduced to blurry shadows. Perhaps then the drama on the hill is small but mirrors some wider power struggle. What do you see when you linger on the image? Curator: Mostly, I’m drawn back to that hill, and to the absurdity, of how a goal, once established, can create conflict even as the landscape and sky seem undisturbed. Like the battle doesn’t concern the rest of nature. Editor: I wonder if it’s that quality, the battle waged silently that fascinates. After all, who hasn't experienced dragging themselves or been dragged to some destination, whether they wish to arrive or not? Perhaps that explains its power to move.