Hertenjacht in een bergachtig landschap 1800 - 1898

Editor: This is a drawing titled "Hertenjacht in een bergachtig landschap," or "Deer Hunt in a Mountainous Landscape." It's an ink and pencil work dating somewhere between 1800 and 1898 and is currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. There's something about the monochrome palette that lends it an air of distance, both temporal and emotional. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a fascinating reflection of power dynamics within landscape art. Genre-painting, especially hunting scenes, became a popular way for the elite to demonstrate their dominion over nature and, by extension, society. The act of hunting, often exclusive to the aristocracy, was a performance of status. Editor: So the drawing isn’t *just* a picture of a hunt, but something more symbolic? Curator: Precisely. Consider the museum it resides in, the Rijksmuseum. Institutions like it helped codify these power structures by presenting a certain view of history and culture. Who gets represented in these institutions, and how? Those are critical questions. Also, notice the idealized, romanticized landscape; the anonymous artist is less interested in a realistic depiction and more in crafting a particular *feeling* about the relationship between humanity and nature. Editor: It makes you wonder about the people *not* included in the image and what their relationship to the land might be. The focus really centers on those with the means to engage in hunting as sport. Curator: Exactly! How does the public exhibition of such scenes affect perceptions of social order? What’s normalized, and what is omitted? We should analyze who benefits from such portrayals. Editor: I hadn't thought about it in terms of social power before, I just thought it looked cool. I am glad I get to have another look with the power dynamic visible. Curator: These images weren’t just ‘cool’ they were working, socially and politically. Keeping that in mind broadens the appeal of this Romantic Landscape painting to me, as it makes this landscape seem critical, and powerful.