Schetsboek met 41 bladen 1848 - 1888

This is a sketchbook with 41 pages, made by Anton Mauve in the Netherlands at an unknown date. The sketchbook as a technology is crucial to the history of art. What does it mean that Dutch artists began carrying and using sketchbooks? As art academies became increasingly important, the sketchbook became a tool for artists who wanted to escape the confines of the institution and paint “en plein air,” capturing nature on the spot. With quick sketches made on location, paintings could be produced in the studio without sacrificing that essential impression of reality. Artists such as Mauve played a key role in developing the Hague School, which rejected academicism and called for artists to paint what they saw. As art historians, we ask how the sketchbook itself transformed the way artists represented the world. By studying Mauve's sketches, along with other period documents, we can learn more about the way artists responded to rapid social change in the Netherlands.