Waterval tegen een rotswand c. 1825 - 1829

This is Andreas Schelfhout's pencil drawing *Waterfall Against a Rock Wall*, which he made sometime during his career, spanning from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Schelfhout lived in a tumultuous period, from the rise and fall of Napoleon to the Industrial Revolution. He was known for his landscape paintings. The lack of people here is noticeable. It’s easy to imagine the landscape as sublime, but also consider who is missing from the image. The romanticism of the period often overlooks the working class's struggle. Nature is not separate from the social sphere, but very much a part of it. Does this scene offer an escape from social issues, or does it highlight the distance between nature and society? How does our own position affect what we see in this work?