Landschap met twee koeien liggend bij een omheining met twee knotwilgen 1816 - 1879

Louis Robbe made this landscape etching of two cows resting by a fence around the mid-19th century, a period marked by significant shifts in agricultural practices and burgeoning industrialization. Robbe, working within the genre of landscape art, engages with the pastoral tradition, but his depiction is far from a simple celebration of rural life. The cows, rendered with a palpable sense of weight and presence, appear almost burdened. They are set against a backdrop of meticulously etched foliage and a vast sky which may hint at the laborious realities of animal husbandry. These may reflect the changing socio-economic dynamics of the time. As you look, consider how the artist invites a dialogue about labor, nature, and the place of animals within a rapidly transforming world. It reminds us to reflect on our relationship with the natural world.