Landschap met bomen c. 1846 - 1851

Willem Roelofs made this drawing, "Landschap met bomen" or "Landscape with Trees," with graphite. We don't know exactly when, but Roelofs lived from 1822 to 1897, so we can place it somewhere in the 19th century. Roelofs was part of a group of Dutch painters called the Hague School, who reacted against the dominant Romantic style. Instead, they chose to paint ordinary scenes of rural life. They were committed to representing nature as directly as possible, and this drawing may have been made as a study for a larger painting. But even as a sketch, it speaks to a broader change in the art world. The art market was expanding at this time, and artists had to find new ways to distinguish themselves. They did this partly by turning to new subject matter, such as the landscape. But they also experimented with new techniques, such as sketching outdoors directly from nature. To understand the painting better, it helps to look at art criticism and exhibition reviews from the period, and to examine the archives of art schools and academies. Art is not just about individual expression, but about the social conditions that make that expression possible.