Landschap met bomen c. 1887 - 1888

Willem Witsen made this charcoal drawing, "Landschap met bomen," sometime before his death in 1923. He was a member of the Amsterdam Impressionism movement, which was greatly influenced by France's Barbizon School, a group of artists that advocated for painting en plein air, that is, directly from nature. This landscape study is about the direct, unmediated experience of the natural world, as opposed to idealised academic landscapes. The drawing has a feeling of immediacy, with its loose and expressive lines. You can almost feel the artist capturing a fleeting moment in the woods, in a country that has very little of them left. Witsen came from a wealthy family and actively supported other artists. As such, he understood the social conditions that made art possible. Historical resources and archival records help to place artworks within the social and institutional contexts that shaped their creation and reception.