Adelaars boven een berglandschap 1920 - 1935

Ker Xavier Roussel created this print of eagles over a mountain landscape with black ink. It seems to offer a Romantic vision of nature, where the mountains are sublime and imposing and the eagles soar, wild and free. But we need to think about how these images of nature circulate and what they might be used to support. Roussel was a French artist working at a time when the country was expanding its empire around the world. Looking at the image through that lens, the soaring eagle might be a nationalist symbol of power and dominance. The sublime landscape becomes a territory to be conquered and controlled. To understand the social conditions that shaped the image, we might look at magazines, schoolbooks and popular culture of the period. We could also look at the institutions that supported Roussel and ask about the agendas of the patrons who bought his work. Art isn't made in a vacuum. It's the job of the historian to understand how it participates in the world.