Grazende koe 1926

Lodewijk Schelfhout created this etching, Grazing Cow, in 1926, printed on paper. It brings into focus the relationship between the Dutch people and their agrarian lifestyle. In this artwork, the artist creates meaning through the cultural reference of landscape, a popular genre in the Netherlands, and historical associations with the pastoral. The geographical features of the Dutch landscape have historically shaped the country's economic structures, based on agriculture. Schelfhout's etching depicts a tranquil scene of a cow grazing peacefully in front of a traditional Dutch farmhouse. This imagery reflects a self-consciously conservative perspective, evoking a sense of nostalgia for a simpler, rural past. To understand this artwork better, one might research the history of Dutch agriculture, the development of landscape painting as a national genre, and the cultural politics of the interwar period in the Netherlands. Art, therefore, is contingent on its social and institutional context.