Landschap met bomen 1865 - 1913

Curator: There’s a quiet stillness to this watercolor. Bramine Hubrecht, the artist, gives us “Landschap met bomen,” or “Landscape with Trees,” which dates from sometime between 1865 and 1913, part of the collection at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It feels like a snatched moment, very much in the Impressionist plein-air tradition. But look at how simplified the forms are, how much the materials dictate the outcome. Watercolor can be unforgiving. Curator: Definitely, there’s a rawness in its application. These Impressionists, even outside of France, were deeply affected by new ideas about science and perception and changing social relations, leading to new patronage models. But the loose brushwork also speaks to accessibility. Watercolor wasn’t always considered a “serious” medium like oils; was it deemed easier, or at least more available to women like Hubrecht? Editor: Interesting thought! Watercolor became accessible alongside industrial pigment production and increasingly complex leisure economies for middle class and aristocratic woman. There’s a huge tradition of amateur and professional watercolor painting by woman artists because of this connection to "accomplishment". Curator: Right, the history of women in art institutions of this time also impacts its understanding! So thinking about this painting within that landscape… how do you understand the lack of distinct forms? Editor: Maybe that’s exactly the point. By denying the very tradition she participated in, by blurring the trees and distant hills into vague impressions, the painter challenges our notion of finished artistic work! Curator: It pushes us to consider the physical qualities of the medium—the flow of water, the textures created by the paper, and maybe, even, the economy in producing such artwork. Editor: And maybe more importantly, the context in which this simple choice, seemingly about a pastoral countryside, becomes a critical response to societal standards about what painting even means. Curator: A quiet statement of intent, made through deceptively simple materials. Editor: I'll never look at another watercolor landscape in the same way again!