Hood Museum of Art

Take a Long Look  

by  Abigail Cote

     Isolation is intriguing. In the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College the art is spread out, it has space to breathe. It then gets narrowed down and only some of the art resembles isolation, other pieces are cluttered.

     There is a gray wall with tints of green and blue. On the wall hang four pieces. The pieces are etchings. Etching is a technique done by scratching into metal that is covered with a waxy ground exposing the parts of metal to create the picture.

     One etch called Landscape With Cottage and Haybarn by Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn will make you yearn for isolation. At first glance, it seems simple, and the longer it is looked at the faster the multiple, intricate marks appear.

     The main focus of the etching, which is the cottage, quickly becomes your own. It becomes alive with the mother in the kitchen looking out upon her boys fishing. The bush in front of the house encloses it and protects it. The patchwork of the house is sturdy and durable. Looking past the cottage into the horizon there is a distant city.

     The space and the water between the cottage and the city is further support for the idea of isolation in this drawing. It also puts more focus on the cottage itself and more focus on the family in the cottage.

     A whole story is created just from looking at a small piece of a cottage. The building in the far distance on the right of the cottage also brings up the idea of a whole separate story, but that story has to be saved for another piece.

     The whole idea of making this piece your own allows for anyone to enjoy it, anyone from an elementary school student to a grandmother. Everyone has a different view of art, and not everyone enjoys the same pieces. Landscape with a Cottage and Haybarn allows for everyone to make it their own.

     The artist, Rembrandt Harmensz, Van Rijn was a Dutch artist. He was known as a painter and an etcher. He was an artist during a time known as the Dutch Golden Age.

     The piece is simple, yet detailed. It is clear to see but stories are hidden. It allows for imagination and it encourages you to create whatever you want to.