Winter Landscape 1858

Andreas Achenbach painted this Winter Landscape in Germany, and although the exact date is unknown, we can still appreciate its place within the social context of 19th century Romanticism. Here, the atmospheric conditions and the picturesque architecture are visual cues which create an idealized feeling of nostalgia for pre-industrial landscapes. With its muted tonality, we can consider how the image speaks to a conservative longing for an imagined past. It is no accident that this kind of imagery gained popularity at a time when the aristocracy felt increasingly threatened by growing democratic movements and the art institutions increasingly favored the middle class. To fully understand this artwork, it is worth examining the social history of landscape painting, the class backgrounds of its patrons, and the ways in which industrialization impacted social attitudes towards nature. Such historical research demonstrates how art is always shaped by broader forces.