Et kobbel Køer 1880s

Adolph Kittendorff made this print, called 'A Herd of Cows,' in Denmark, sometime in the late 19th century. It depicts a young man guiding a cluster of cows down a country lane. Now, Denmark at this time was a country in transition, moving from a primarily agricultural society to one that was increasingly industrialized. It can be argued that Kittendorff's print idealizes the older way of life. But how might we know this for sure? As an art historian, I would want to look at official government statistics about the changing demographics of Denmark at this time. I would want to read newspapers and magazines to see how the agricultural way of life was being represented in the popular press. We can never be sure of an artist's intentions, but by looking at the broader social and institutional context, we can get a clearer sense of how an image like this operated in its own time.