Gezicht op Romainville 1858

Gerrit Postma made this pencil drawing titled 'Gezicht op Romainville'. Postma was a Dutch artist, and this sketch probably relates to a period in the mid-19th century when French landscape painting was becoming influential across Europe. The Barbizon school of painters, for example, were interested in the landscape as a subject in itself, rather than just as a backdrop for historical or mythological scenes. Romainville is near Paris, and while it's a quick sketch, there’s a definite sense of place here. You can almost feel the rural atmosphere. But why did Postma choose to depict this particular view? What was his relationship to the place? These are questions that an art historian might pursue through archival research, looking at letters, diaries, or other documents that could shed light on the social and cultural context of the work. This way, we can understand the meaning of art as something deeply embedded in its time.