Landschap met figuren bij een bomenlaan 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this pencil drawing, “Landscape with Figures in an Avenue of Trees”, during his travels, most likely in the first half of the twentieth century. On the left, we see a quick inscription “Hotel St George Algier”. This tells us that this is a scene in French colonial Algeria. Vreedenburgh was a landscape artist, and here, in just a few lines, he captures a scene of everyday life in a colonial space. We see horse-drawn vehicles carrying people through the landscape. But this image can tell us more than simply the location of the scene. By sketching the landscape, and, in particular, the hotel, Vreedenburgh participates in a visual culture that helped to shape the relationship between Europe and its colonies. What was it like to be a tourist in Algiers at that time? To further understand this work, we would need to delve into the history of tourism, trade, and the colonial system. This artwork reminds us that the meaning of an artwork is always shaped by its location in a particular time and place.