Vier gezichten op Tosari after 1838

Willem Mathol de Jong created this pencil drawing of four views of Tosari in Java, part of the Dutch East Indies, in the 19th century. As we look at these carefully rendered landscapes, we might ask ourselves, what are the politics of imagery here? The Dutch presence in Java was primarily about economic exploitation, and landscape images played a key role in promoting colonial endeavors. Artists like de Jong were often commissioned to depict the natural resources and agricultural potential of the region. This idyllic portrayal of Tosari, with its neatly cultivated hills, would have appealed to potential investors and settlers, reinforcing the colonial project. To fully understand the artwork, we would need to research the economic structures of the time, the role of landscape imagery in colonial propaganda, and the social conditions of both the colonizers and the colonized.