Grazende schapen 1848 - 1888

Anton Mauve made this pencil drawing of grazing sheep in the Netherlands sometime in the late nineteenth century. At this time Dutch artists increasingly sought inspiration in the rural landscape, looking to the countryside for authenticity and tradition. Mauve's choice of subject speaks to a broader cultural narrative that idealized agrarian life, reflecting a nostalgic view of a simpler past amidst rapid industrialization. The depiction of animals in art has always been loaded with meaning. Here, the sheep symbolize pastoral innocence and the natural order, concepts that were deeply embedded in the social and cultural consciousness of the time. Further understanding of Mauve's artistic and social context can be gleaned from period exhibition reviews and sales records, and from the archives of art academies. In these sources, we can see how the image of rural labor was changing, from the traditional to the modern.