Twee meisjes in een bos c. 1858

Bastiaan de Poorter made this drawing, 'Two Girls in a Forest', with graphite on paper sometime in the mid-19th century. At first glance, it looks like a simple, unfinished sketch, perhaps made from life. But it's worth remembering that in the Netherlands at this time, art was very much controlled by institutions like the academies. They promoted certain subjects and styles. This meant that seemingly innocent landscape scenes often carried hidden messages about national identity and cultural values. Think about how the forest itself was viewed. Was it a place of escape and freedom, or a symbol of the wild and untamed? And what does it mean to depict women in this environment? Are they at one with nature, or are they somehow vulnerable? To understand this work better, we could look at popular literature and other images of the period. This would tell us more about how Dutch society saw itself and its relationship with the natural world. By doing so, we can start to unpack the drawing's subtle commentary on the social structures of its time.