Landskab ved en sø 1751 - 1828

Johan Bülow created this landscape by a lake as an etching, a printmaking technique, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. It depicts a humble rustic scene: we see a man in a small boat, a simple cottage with a thatched roof, and a few trees. This image emerged during a period of significant social and political change in Denmark. The late 1700s saw agricultural reforms and a growing interest in the lives of ordinary people. Bülow’s print reflects the rising fashion for the rural idyll and the celebration of the common man which had been developing since the mid-18th century in England and France. Such imagery was ideologically charged. It helped consolidate a sense of national identity and pride in the Danish landscape and the virtues of the rural population. To understand Bülow’s work better, we can delve into the history of printmaking and the broader cultural context of 18th and 19th century Denmark using publications from the time.