Farmyard with Haystack
by GOYEN, Jan van, Oil on wood
Several low cottages and a haystack are nestling beneath a huge, windswept oak. The winding tracks of cartwheels, which draw the eye of the beholder to a group of figures are resting by the side of the muddy road, thatched roofs, rotting fences. It was during his apprenticeship in Haarlem that van Goyen was motivated to paint this and similar views of villages. The popularity of this motif can be explained by a trend among scholars and writers to extol country life.