Landscape 1877

Johan Barthold Jongkind made this watercolor landscape in 1872. It reflects the growing interest in depictions of the natural world and the everyday lives of rural people. Jongkind was Dutch, but much of his career was centered in France. His art reflects that sense of being in between places. The way the landscape is depicted here is very typical of the 19th century; there's a Romantic sensibility, but also a growing Realism. His loose brushstrokes and interest in light effects place him close to the Impressionists. This new painting style challenged the rigid academic art establishment. Artists were finding new ways of seeing the world outside of classrooms and state-sponsored Salons. They looked to the common life of ordinary people, which had rarely been a subject of art until this time. To understand the painting's significance, you might look into the rise of landscape painting and how artists were responding to the changing social and political landscape of Europe in the late 19th century.