Fleeting Touch is the left panel of the triptych Moments of Eternity, created for the exhibition Bron van Inspiratie at De Paardenkamp in Soest.

This is the most lyrical panel of the triptych. Based on one of the real horses from De Paardenkamp, the work centres on a quiet moment of contact between human and horse — a gesture that is gentle, intimate and almost weightless.

But the touch in this work is also symbolic. It is not only a moment of physical closeness, but a metaphor for touching memory itself. The painting reflects the way a brief encounter can remain within us, not as a clear and fixed scene, but as a layered emotional image made of light, tenderness, atmosphere and fragments of time.

The contrast between the autumn leaves in the horse’s mane and the flowering branches in the background introduces a deliberate rupture of time. Spring and autumn appear together in one space, suggesting that memory does not follow linear chronology. In memory, different moments, seasons and emotions can coexist, forming a reality that is inward rather than literal.

The large portrait of the horse is rendered with a stronger sense of realism, while the surrounding space dissolves into transparent, cubist-inspired planes. This contrast allows the horse to remain present and tangible, while everything around her becomes more fluid — a sphere of recollection, feeling and transformation.

In Fleeting Touch, the horse becomes a quiet threshold between the real and the remembered. The work is a meditation on tenderness, trust and the fragile beauty of a moment that has passed, yet continues to live within memory.