Figuren op het strand 1826 - 1907

Charles Leickert made this print called Figuren op het strand, or Figures on the Beach, sometime in the 19th century. It is a tiny image, just a few centimeters across, and it shows a group of people and a boat on a beach beneath a cloudy sky. Leickert was Dutch-Belgian, trained in the Hague, and he specialized in landscapes. He lived at a time when the genre of landscape painting was tied up with the rise of nationalism in Europe. As countries defined themselves, artists started painting scenes that were understood as characteristically Dutch, or characteristically Belgian. Art institutions like the Royal Academy played a key role in fostering this national consciousness. This image does not tell us whether Leickert saw his role as supporting the status quo. It would take more research in Dutch archives and art journals of the time to find out more about how Leickert understood his public role as an artist. It is through understanding such social and institutional contexts that we can properly interpret art.