Boom 1896 - 1897

Willem Cornelis Rip made this sketch called Boom with graphite. On the face of it, a quick sketch of a tree is hardly a political statement. But consider the time and place in which Rip was working. He was Dutch, and part of a generation who were reckoning with the legacy of the Dutch Golden Age. The Dutch landscape was seen as an emblem of national identity, especially as a source of national pride. Artists of Rip's generation were concerned with how industrialization was impacting the landscape. With that in mind, even an apparently simple sketch of a tree could be read as a comment on the relationship between nature and culture. To further explore the social and cultural context in which Boom was made, we might look at Dutch landscape painting of the period. We could also study the history of Dutch attitudes towards nature and the environment.