Schets van heuvellandschap met weg 1773 - 1843

Georges Michel made this landscape sketch with graphite, sometime between the late 18th and mid 19th century in France. The quick strokes and small scale suggest it was made on site, "en plein air", as opposed to the studio. Michel came of age during the French Revolution and the rise of industrialization. Urban migration meant that landscape was becoming less familiar and more nostalgic for city dwellers. The 'picturesque' style of landscape painting developed in response to this, and this sketch embodies the style’s key characteristics. Michel was not accepted into the French Academy, so he made a living as a restorer and copyist, only becoming well known after his death. It has been suggested that this distance from the French artistic establishment helped him to develop a raw and authentic way of painting the landscape. Art history is not just about the art, but about the social and economic conditions that shape it. We use historical documents like exhibition reviews, sales records, and artists’ correspondence to better understand an artwork’s context and meaning.