Rotskust op Porquerolles c. 1872

Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande made this etching of the rocky coast at Porquerolles. It’s a quiet image of the French coast, emphasizing the imposing rock formations in the water and along the shore. This artwork evokes the aesthetic movement that surged through Europe in the late 19th century. This movement rejected the growing industrialization, mass production and commercialism of the West, and artists turned instead to nature for their inspiration. The artist uses the etching technique to make the image reproducible, thereby making it more accessible to the masses, even as it rejects their world. The image is, however, devoid of human presence or activity. The historian can better understand this image by researching both the artist and the history of the aesthetic movement and the institutions that supported this kind of imagery. Approaching art from this perspective enables us to see that its meaning is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.