Landschap met bebouwing 1848 - 1888

This landscape with buildings was sketched by Anton Mauve, likely sometime in the second half of the 19th century. It shows a scene from the Netherlands with a light touch and an economy of means, using graphite on paper. Mauve belonged to the Hague School of painters, who were invested in a realistic style, depicting rural scenes, the everyday lives of peasants, and the influence of light. The urban art academies taught artists to copy classical models, but this did not depict Dutch life. Artists like Mauve began to break away from this model, instead, they went out into the countryside and began to paint in the open air. Art historians use an array of sources to understand such shifts in artistic practice: letters, exhibition reviews, and sale records all contribute to a better picture of the social conditions that shaped artistic production. Understanding art means understanding the world that made it possible.