Landschap met kerk, mogelijk de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk te Damme 1923

Alexander Shilling sketched this landscape with a church, possibly the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk in Damme, using graphite on paper. This sketch captures a moment in the late 19th or early 20th century, a period when artists increasingly focused on the everyday and the local. Consider the role of religious institutions in shaping the cultural and social life of communities. Shilling's choice to depict a church against a natural backdrop invites reflection on the relationship between the sacred and the secular, the built environment and the natural world. In a rapidly changing world, images of the landscape and its landmarks offered a sense of stability and continuity. To truly understand this artwork, one could research the history of Damme, the architectural styles of churches in the region, and the biography of Alexander Shilling. Such research could reveal the social and institutional contexts that shaped this evocative landscape drawing.