Dragging Up the Past

About this work

Two expressive cows enjoy themselves in a ditch while a farmer, half laughing and half powerless, is dragged through the water. Splashing water and flying mud disturb the calm Dutch polder landscape. The scene gives a humorous twist to ‘Dragging old cows out of the ditch’, a Dutch expression for reviving old grievances. The cows represent past issues brought up again. Those who keep pulling at the past risk becoming caught in it themselves.