Twee palmen aan de oever van een waterpartij 1838 - 1843

Paulus Lauters created this lithograph, "Two Palm Trees on the Banks of a Body of Water", sometime in the mid-19th century. The image presents a wild seascape, likely somewhere in the tropics. At this time, the Netherlands was a significant colonial power, with holdings in modern-day Indonesia, and this image, though a landscape, speaks to the exercise of that power. We see a European artist's rendering of an exotic locale. The lithograph would have found a ready market amongst those eager to imagine the furthest reaches of Dutch influence and commerce. Consider the visual codes at play: the palm trees, the turbulent sea, the small figure in the foreground, perhaps a local inhabitant. These elements contribute to a vision of the "Orient" as both beautiful and untamed, ripe for exploration and exploitation. Research into the Dutch colonial archives, travelogues, and other images of the period, can help us understand the cultural and economic forces that shaped this seemingly simple landscape. The history of art is always contingent on wider social contexts.