Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1932

This is a postcard to Willem Bogtman by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst. Though undated, we might read this artwork with an awareness of Holst's socialist politics. Notice the way the image creates meaning through a dialectic between near and far, between those who toil and the romantic beauty of the natural world. In the Netherlands, at the turn of the century, socialism was on the rise as the urban working classes sought better conditions. It also attracted those, like Holst, who felt uneasy with the dehumanizing effects of industrial capitalism. The two figures, one behind a cart and the other standing near a tree, remind us that the social question can never be separated from the land. As historians, understanding this work requires that we know something of its maker. In the Netherlands, there are several archives with information about Holst and Bogtman. Only through such resources can the meaning of this image be unlocked as something contingent on its original social and institutional context.