Bomen aan de entree van Jardins Français before 1909

This photogravure titled 'Bomen aan de entree van Jardins Français' ('Trees at the Entrance of French Gardens') was created by Coppin-Goisse. The formal garden, a status symbol for the elite, reveals a history of power and control. These gardens, with their ordered nature, speak to the colonial drive to tame and classify the natural world, often mirroring the hierarchical structures of society. Coppin-Goisse's composition, though, complicates this reading. It's framed with such precision, that we can perceive the garden’s threshold. Here, nature appears almost as a dreamscape, a space of mystery and shadow, rather than mere ordered beauty. Think about what it means to enter such a constructed space. Is it to dominate, to find peace, or to lose oneself? What does it mean to have control over nature, or to relinquish it? Perhaps Coppin-Goisse invites us to consider our complex relationship with the landscapes we inhabit and imagine.