Sketch Near Ridderkerk Holland 1889

Curator: Alexander Shilling created this piece, "Sketch Near Ridderkerk Holland." It’s currently held in the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It feels...restrained. A simple landscape, softly rendered. The etching seems to capture a quiet moment in the Dutch countryside. Curator: Shilling’s landscapes often depict rural life, fitting into the late 19th-century interest in agrarian subjects and the public's shift toward more pastoral settings. Editor: And there's a certain social commentary there too, right? The idealization of rural life, a contrast to industrialization. Curator: Precisely. Artists like Shilling offered a romanticized view of labor and nature, perhaps as a critique of the urban and its rapid growth. Editor: Thinking about accessibility, who gets to experience "nature" versus who toils in it? This image serves both a reflection and a reinforcement of those dynamics. Curator: That's an important point—one that encourages a continued conversation beyond the aesthetic pleasures. Editor: Absolutely. It's a reminder that art, even in its quietest forms, can have so much to say about how we lived.