Landschap met een vervallen schuur c. 1827 - 1888

This etching, "Landschap met een vervallen schuur," or "Landscape with a dilapidated barn," was made by Remigius Adrianus Haanen in the Netherlands. This genre scene speaks to broader shifts in the nineteenth-century art world, particularly the increasing interest in rural life and the everyday experiences of ordinary people. Haanen's choice of subject matter, a dilapidated barn, is a visual code for the changing economic realities of rural life in the Netherlands, and the depopulation of the countryside due to urbanisation. The image is rendered in fine detail, with close attention to the textures of the weathered wood and overgrown vegetation. To better understand Haanen’s artistic choices, we might consider the popularity of landscape painting in the Netherlands at this time. In focusing on the realities of rural decline, Haanen may be challenging idealized notions of the countryside. Art historical research can help us understand the institutional forces that shaped Haanen's artistic production.