IJsschots 1880

Louis Apol made this pencil drawing titled ‘IJsschots,’ or ‘Ice Floe,’ but we don’t know exactly when. It depicts a shard of ice grounded in shallow water. Apol was a Dutch painter known for his winter landscapes. This drawing and others like it would have been studies for larger paintings that were often sold to private collectors. Holland was a trading nation with colonies, and paintings of dramatic landscapes like this one played a role in how people understood the world and their place in it. As industrialization advanced, the subject of ‘nature’ became newly important. Artists began to venture into remote settings, to sketch and paint scenes that would serve as records of the earth’s diverse geography. They catered to a public eager to see images of far-flung lands. To understand Apol’s work more deeply, one could consult not only exhibition catalogs but also travel writing and the illustrated press of his time. The meaning of art is always rooted in its historical context.