Moeder met twee kinderen 1854 - 1914

Albert Neuhuys created this watercolor titled ‘Mother with Two Children’ sometime in the late 19th century in the Netherlands. The subject, a mother with her children, appears at first glance to be a tender domestic scene. But consider the context: Neuhuys was part of the Hague School, a group of artists who reacted against the urban industrialization of the Netherlands by idealizing rural life. These artists were interested in showing the reality of rural life, but there was also a tendency to emphasize its picturesqueness. What is emphasized is the natural bond between mother and child, a popular theme in European art from the 19th century onwards. To properly understand this image, we need to understand more about the social and artistic conventions of the period. By looking at exhibition reviews, artists' letters, and other historical documents, we can start to interpret the meaning of the artwork as something deeply embedded in its social and institutional context.