Hek in een weiland 1848 - 1888

Anton Mauve made this pencil drawing, “Hek in een weiland,” sometime during his career in the Netherlands. Mauve was part of the Hague School, a group of artists who embraced realism. Mauve’s choice to depict a simple fence in a pasture reflects a broader cultural interest in rural life. At the time, the Netherlands was undergoing rapid industrialization. As cities grew, many artists turned to the countryside for inspiration. These scenes evoked an idealized vision of the past. Yet, it's important to ask: whose past is being idealized and who is excluded from these representations? The Rijksmuseum, like many national museums, plays a role in shaping our understanding of Dutch identity through the art it chooses to display. By studying archival material, such as exhibition catalogues and artist correspondence, we can gain insight into how artistic movements are created and understood in their time. The meaning of art is always shaped by the social and institutional context in which it is encountered.