Landschap 1848 - 1888

Anton Mauve created this landscape with pencil on paper. The marks on the paper tell a story of process. The pressure applied to the pencil creates darker, denser areas, such as the ridge across the middle-ground, while lighter touches suggest the sky and distant hills. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the page, building up the image line by line. Landscape drawing was a common practice for artists in the 19th century, both as a means of study and as a form of artistic expression in its own right. It allowed artists to engage directly with the world around them. Notice how the immediacy of the pencil marks creates a sense of intimacy with the scene, as if we are standing alongside Mauve. The rough paper and simple tools emphasize the connection to the act of making, reminding us that art is not just about the final image, but about the labor and skill involved in its creation. This challenges the traditional hierarchy between ‘high’ art and more grounded forms of creative practice.