Landschap met bomen 1900 - 1931

Willem Bastiaan Tholen made this pencil drawing of trees, titled “Landschap met bomen,” sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Tholen was part of the Hague School, a group of Dutch artists working around The Hague who embraced impressionism and sought to represent the landscape and daily life of the Netherlands with naturalism and emotion. He often depicted the Dutch landscape en plein air, meaning in the open air, and this sketch gives a sense of his practice. At the time, artists increasingly distanced themselves from the rigid academic traditions of the art world in favor of individual expression. The Hague School artists like Tholen played a crucial role in shaping Dutch national identity and artistic heritage. Historical research on the artist, the art movement, and the institutions through which artists were trained would provide even greater insight. Art is a reflection of its time, shaped by its social and institutional contexts.