Kind met pauw 2 1892

This is a print by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, called 'Kind met pauw 2'. In it, we see a female nude in an idealised landscape with a peacock. Holst was a Dutch artist, active at the turn of the 20th century. As a designer, painter, and graphic artist, he drew from a range of sources, including socialism, symbolism, and the English Pre-Raphaelites. Here, the nude’s classical features contrast with the stylised peacock and sunflower in the background. Holst made several images of female nudes, partly as an exploration of idealised beauty, and partly as a conscious rejection of bourgeois society. These symbolist images would have been informed by his socialist ideals, but his work also provided artwork for socialist organizations such as the SDAP. To learn more about the social context of Holst's prints, one could consult exhibition catalogues, contemporary magazines, and histories of the Dutch socialist movement. The role of art in social movements is, as ever, dependent on its context.