Bäume und Gehöft bei Connewitz 1853

Curator: Standing before us is H. Lauterbach's "Bäume und Gehöft bei Connewitz," a watercolor and ink drawing from 1853, currently held here at the Städel Museum. Editor: It evokes such tranquility, doesn't it? The soft washes of color, the towering trees, and the glimpse of the farmstead in the distance all contribute to a sense of idyllic calm, it is nostalgic. Curator: It certainly captures the Romantic era’s fascination with nature and the rural landscape, a trend gaining popularity as urbanization rapidly changed the German landscape. Lauterbach seems keen to depict nature as undisturbed and serene. Editor: Yes, I agree. We also should not oversee this as a piece done in plain-air. We could see this piece reflecting the era's desire to reconnect with nature and challenge industrialization but maybe with some rose-tinted lenses! And look how deliberately he's chosen his perspective. It feels very constructed. Curator: It is a good reminder that plein air painting at this time, while seemingly objective, still came with a point of view. I do wonder, in that context, how his patrons or viewers received such images. They'd potentially be landowners eager to further display this so-called "natural harmony" with themselves in command. Editor: Precisely! Consider the politics of the idyllic: who has access to this serenity, whose labor sustains it? Where do we draw the line on art that’s being “neutral.” Who were his intended audience? Were those landscapes serving as a reminder of a natural state but a political instrument to further embed the sense of superiority, such as what we witness in the Hudson River School in the U.S.? Curator: It raises crucial questions about the function of landscape art, particularly within its socio-economic context. It urges us to look at how such representations often conceal complex relationships of power and ownership of resources and land! Editor: It leaves me with a deeper curiosity. An invitation to keep dissecting what’s unsaid within this pretty artwork.