Stad aan rivier 1826 - 1907

Charles Leickert made this drawing of a city on a river in graphite. Leickert was a Dutch painter of landscapes, who spent most of his career in the Netherlands painting scenes like this one. The cultural and institutional history of the Netherlands in the 19th century shaped Leickert's artistic production. The Netherlands was a constitutional monarchy with a growing economy, that prided itself on its history as a mercantile power. Artists at this time found patronage from wealthy merchants, and institutions such as art academies taught a curriculum of realism and technical skill. This drawing of a Dutch townscape creates meaning through its reference to established genre scenes, a traditional scene and a mode of representation that emphasized observation and detail. Understanding the image requires research into the social and economic history of the Netherlands, as well as the institutional history of art academies and patronage systems. The meaning of art is always contingent on these kinds of contexts.