Landschap met kale bomen en houthakkers c. 1896

Willem de Zwart created this etching, "Landscape with bare trees and woodcutters," around the turn of the twentieth century in the Netherlands. It presents us with an apparently straightforward scene of laborers at work. But consider the date. This image was made at a time when rapid industrialization threatened traditional ways of life and when some artists began to explore a more radical political consciousness. The humble labourers might, therefore, be understood as figures of resistance, retaining a connection to the land. In order to truly understand the image, though, we need to look into the social history of Dutch landscape art, the history of labour in the Netherlands, and also the institutional setting through which this print was made and circulated. These lines can tell us so much more about the cultural contexts of the time.