Landscape with a Gnarled Tree and a Farm c. early 17th century

Anthony van Dyck made this drawing of a landscape with pen and brown ink. Van Dyck was a Flemish artist working in the 17th century, a period in which landscape was becoming an increasingly popular genre. In the low countries, artists began to focus on the land as something more than mere background for a portrait or religious scene. But how might we understand the new popularity of landscape? Was it simply a question of taste, or could social forces be at work? In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic was expanding economically, with new wealth coming from overseas trade. Perhaps the interest in landscape was related to new ideas about property and nationhood. This drawing seems quite unassuming, but the very idea of representing a landscape carries cultural meaning. To understand that meaning, we can look at the history of land ownership, economic change, and national identity. We can examine how the institutions of art support certain kinds of representation, and we can question whose interests are being served.