Gezicht op een dorp, mogelijk Damme 1923

Alexander Shilling made this sketch, possibly of Damme, in graphite on paper at an unknown date. What can we say about the social conditions that might have shaped this drawing? Shilling was an American who studied in Munich, so we might think about the way European art academies shaped his approach to landscape. One could look at the curriculum of the Munich academy. What kind of landscapes did they encourage their students to draw? How might it have instilled in them certain cultural values? We can also ask what it means to sketch. Sketches are often preparatory works, so we might think about the institutional function of a sketch. Is it something to be displayed or is it part of a process? To understand this work better, we might research the cultural history of Damme and the artistic conventions for representing it. Ultimately, the meaning of this art is contingent on its social and institutional context.