Gezicht op een kerk c. 1828 - 1897

Adrianus Eversen made this watercolor of a church at an unknown date. Eversen was a Dutch painter known for his cityscapes, and this work reflects his interest in architectural subjects. But the sparseness of the style, the flat blocks of color, and the hard lines also point to an interesting moment in the institutional history of art, when academic realism was starting to give way to modernism. In Eversen’s time, the Netherlands was rapidly urbanizing. Artists responded to this change in different ways. Some, inspired by romantic nationalism, painted nostalgic scenes of rural life. Eversen, by contrast, often depicted modern city life, which was a conscious choice to celebrate the present rather than mourn the past. To further understand Eversen, we might explore the art market in the Netherlands during the 19th century. Archival documents, exhibition catalogs, and period reviews would give insight into the networks that shaped his career. Ultimately, this artwork’s meaning is embedded in its historical context, a context that historical analysis can help bring to light.