Zandige weg met enkele boerderijen 1773 - 1843

Georges Michel created this drawing, Zandige weg met enkele boerderijen, which translates as ‘Sandy road with some farms’, in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Michel lived and worked in Paris, and his art reflects the social and political upheavals that France was undergoing at that time. The French Revolution of 1789 challenged the old order and paved the way for a new society based on liberty, equality, and fraternity. Michel was one of many artists who sought to capture the spirit of this new era in their work, turning away from depicting idealized classical landscapes and towards naturalistic scenes of the French countryside. It may seem, however, that Michel’s art has little to do with social conflict. It is easy to see it as a timeless image, with the kind of rural scenery that has existed at all times. But the historian is concerned to read art in context. By turning to other examples of Michel’s work, and by considering it as part of a wider movement in European painting, we can see how such images take on a particular meaning.