Landschap met twee boerderijen c. 1850 - 1883

Jerôme Tuyttens made this etching titled "Landschap met twee boerderijen," or "Landscape with two farms," at an unknown date. It shows a rural scene with two farmhouses, a tree, and some shrubbery. At first glance, this work seems to fit comfortably within traditional landscape art. However, it also pushes against the notion of pastoral beauty by focusing on the everyday lives of rural people rather than idealizing the landscape. Tuyttens shows a simple, unromantic view of farm life. The thatched roofs and modest structures suggest a life of labor and self-sufficiency. I'm interested in what the artist leaves out. Tuyttens doesn't include people, or even animals, making me wonder if he's attempting to communicate something about the isolation of rural existence. Rather than offering a story or a moral, the scene evokes a feeling, a particular mood and perhaps even a sense of the quiet dignity of those who live close to the land.