Bosrand met een pad

Jean Pierre François Lamorinière made this print called "Bosrand met een pad" – or "Edge of the woods with a path" – with etching. The piece is reminiscent of the Barbizon School in France, a mid-nineteenth century movement toward Realism in painting. Artists sought to represent the world around them as they saw it in their everyday lives. They rejected both the formality of the academy and the exoticism of Romanticism, choosing instead to celebrate the beauty of the rural landscape. In this image, Lamorinière eschews grand historical or mythological themes in favor of a quiet scene from nature. As art historians, we might ask: What are the politics of landscape? How do representations of nature reflect social and economic changes, such as industrialization and urbanization? Analyzing such artworks means consulting exhibition reviews, artists' biographies, and considering the economic and social context in which they were made.