Boerderij en aanlegplaats bij een rivier 1878

Johannes Hilverdink made this river landscape with pen in brown ink, sometime in the 19th century. It has an open composition with a river that extends far into the background. At this time, landscape art in the Netherlands was dominated by the Hague School, a group of artists who rejected romantic idealism in favour of a more realistic depiction of the Dutch countryside. In this work, we see the windmill as a part of this familiar scenery. Its presence is a testament to the Netherlands' historic dependence on wind power. The waterways of the Netherlands were crucial for transport and trade. Drawings and paintings of this kind are therefore valuable resources for social historians. By researching the economic infrastructure of the time, we can understand how the relationship between the people and their natural environment influenced the art they produced.