Windmill on a Pond c. 1860 - 1903

Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël created this oil on panel, ‘Windmill on a Pond’, sometime in the 19th century. It shows us a scene of Dutch rural life but it also hints at the Netherlands’ economic transformation during this time. Windmills were once at the heart of the Dutch economy, draining the land and grinding grain. By the 1800s, though, steam power was taking over, and the country was modernising rapidly. In this light, we might see Gabriel’s painting as a nostalgic image of an older way of life. It’s interesting that he chooses to paint this traditional scene at a time when many artists were turning to urban and industrial subjects. We might compare his images with tourist postcards from the same time, which also idealised traditional Dutch life in the face of modernisation. To understand this painting better, we could look at economic histories of the Netherlands, or at the archives of tourism companies and art galleries. Understanding such works always demands that we engage with their broader social and institutional context.