Beek in een bos bij Vlierden 1897

Willem Cornelis Rip made this drawing of a stream in a forest near Vlierden with pen and ink in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century in the Netherlands. Rip was one of the many Dutch artists who, following the Barbizon School of French landscape painters, went out into the countryside to paint ‘en plein air’. This little sketch gives us insight into the artistic process of finding inspiration from the natural world. This was a rejection of the art academies, which promoted a more formal type of history painting. Artists wanted to escape the restrictions of the studio, in order to more freely express their personal connection to nature. The art historian can use letters, diaries, and other archival sources to try and understand the artist’s intentions, and the changing social role of art in this period. What do you think?