Landschap met schapen 1848 - 1888

This is Anton Mauve's "Landschap met schapen," or "Landscape with Sheep," created with graphite. Mauve, living from 1838 to 1888, painted at a time when the Netherlands was reckoning with its identity. The Dutch Golden Age was long past, but there was a rising tide of cultural nationalism that looked back to that time. Mauve belonged to the Hague School, where artists turned away from the city and academic painting to focus on the Dutch landscape and everyday life. Here we see just a sketch, nothing flashy, but it captures a sense of the quiet rural life so central to Dutch identity. This work isn't about grand historical moments. Rather, it's about the connection to the land, the animals, and the ordinary people who lived there. It’s easy to look at this sketch and see just sheep in a field, but it is also a quiet statement about Dutch values and a specific sense of belonging.