Landschap bij Elswoud buiten Haarlem c. 1773 - 1808

Franciscus Andreas Milatz made this wash drawing of the landscape near Elswout, outside Haarlem, in the late 18th or early 19th century. This image presents an intriguing set of contrasts relevant to the social and cultural history of landscape art. On the one hand, it presents a seemingly untouched vista of trees and open sky. Yet, the presence of the figures, and the knowledge that this scene lies just outside Haarlem, suggests the impact of human activity and agriculture on the land. Haarlem, a centre of the Dutch Golden Age, had a rich artistic tradition supported by civic institutions and private patronage. In Milatz's time, artists were increasingly interested in capturing the subtleties of light and atmosphere, and the everyday experience of the common person. We could explore this tension between the ideal and the real further by researching Haarlem's economic conditions and the changing role of landscape painting within the art market. With those resources, we can start to see how this artwork might reflect or critique the social structures of its time.