Landschap met bebouwing 1880 - 1886

Curator: This is Louis Apol's "Landschap met bebouwing," dating from 1880 to 1886, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It's striking, isn’t it? Incomplete, but moody. A sense of place emerges even through the rapid, almost frantic sketching. You can practically feel the raw quality of the pencil on paper. Curator: Exactly! Looking at the process, it feels almost immediate, capturing a fleeting impression. Considering its context, it likely came from one of his sketchbooks. A way for Apol to rapidly record potential subjects or compositions before committing to a finished painting. Editor: The labor involved in creating "high art" landscapes often gets sanitized, doesn’t it? We see the final, polished product, but here we see the groundwork, the raw material, and the physical act of sketching. What kind of pencil do you think he would have used? The softness really captures the changing atmosphere above the landscape, so the materiality becomes integral. Curator: Absolutely. And it speaks volumes about the artistic process in the late 19th century. Think about the rise of plein air painting. Artists seeking to capture the immediacy of nature, of the 'moment'. Sketches like these fueled larger studio works, shaping the public perception of landscapes through carefully constructed imagery. Editor: And consumption. The ease with which sketches such as these are produced contrasts starkly with the expectations placed on the public works by someone like Apol. It feels as if the expectation of access and interaction between consumer and creator becomes blurred by a constant, often financially focused production line. I feel as though it highlights a dichotomy between a creator and consumer in a capital focused society. Curator: That tension between individual expression and market demand is definitely at play. These private sketches give us a peek behind the curtain. Now I look at his publicly exhibited works in a totally different light, aware of the pressures of his time! Editor: Well, I found that enlightening, shedding light on Apol's practices beyond just the surface of the completed image. Curator: Indeed. The sketch offers such valuable insight, providing us a glimpse into both artistic intention and the artistic pressures of a society.