Rivierlandschap bij Nesles 1894

Georges Felix Garen made this landscape etching, *Rivierlandschap bij Nesles*, sometime around 1894. Here, we see the French countryside rendered with the kind of close attention to atmospheric effects that characterized the Impressionists. But how might we connect this evocative image to its wider social and cultural context? Thinkers such as John Ruskin encouraged artists to study nature closely, but also saw landscapes as reflections of social health. What kind of social vision is implicit in this particular landscape? Is it backward-looking, nostalgic for a rural past? Or does it embrace the transformations of modern life? Perhaps the very notion of “landscape” is itself a cultural construct, reflecting particular ways of seeing and valuing the land. As art historians, we can begin to address these questions by researching the artistic institutions and social debates of Garen’s time. Only then can we fully understand the cultural work this image might have performed.