Farewell by Wim Romijn

About "Farewell"

by Wim Romijn

About the artwork

For the duration of twenty years, I visited Dutch and Flemish farms where horses (mainly draft horses) were still used. Looking back with melancholy, I cannot but conclude that time has done its devastating work.
I had to say goodbye to:

Dearly loved people with values and standards have lost me. Among them those who preferred solitude to companionship, who perhaps that is why they were close to nature. Every year they counted the swallow nests in their stables, during field work they stopped the horses to watch each other chasing, rattling hares. Those who did not care about the creases in their faces, were too sober to engage in sauna baths and garlic cures. And then there were those with whom the guest felt at ease very quickly, where it was always the sweet spot, with affection, warmth and genuine interest in their fellow man. In due course, a cup of coffee for the baker, a bar of chocolate for the milkman's 'Saturday boy', a glass of wine for the priest. No high-flown conversations, but talking about seemingly mundane matters; peasant women worried about me " Did you come all the way here on the moped (was a light motorbike) ? " and " Can you make a living from it? " and then calling in the evening to find out if I had come home all right.
I miss it, the usual hospitable welcome, leafing through family albums with horse photos, studying pedigree certificates together, the