Boerenwoningen bij een sloot 1860 - 1910

Alfred Elsen created this etching of farmhouses by a ditch in the Netherlands sometime around the turn of the 20th century. The scene evokes the rural character of the Netherlands, but it also speaks to a changing relationship between the land and its people. During Elsen's time, the Netherlands was undergoing rapid industrialization. Artists began to depict rural scenes with an eye toward the impact of modernization on traditional ways of life. They capture the intimacy of the Dutch landscape at a time when agricultural practices were being threatened by large-scale farming. Consider, for example, how the placement of the farmhouses suggests a close relationship between the buildings, the fields, and the waterways. It is important to note that landscape imagery was central to the Dutch national identity. Elsen's work can therefore be seen as both a celebration of Dutch culture and a reflection on the changing nature of that culture in the face of industrial progress. To understand Elsen's imagery fully, one can look at the exhibition history of landscapes, regional economic data, and social histories of the region.