Landschap met knotwilgen, in het water een roeiboot met een totebel 1854 - 1911

Adrien Le Mayeur de Merprés created this landscape with gnarled willows and a totebel rowing boat as an etching. While undated, the image evokes the rural landscapes of late 19th-century Europe, a period marked by rapid industrialization and urbanization. The scene suggests a deliberate contrast, perhaps even a critique, of the changing times. The totebel boat, with its covered top, represents a traditional way of life, deeply connected to the natural environment. The artist's choice of etching as a medium aligns with the printmaking revival of the late 19th century, a movement that was deeply influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. To understand this artwork more fully, we might turn to sources from cultural geography, local history archives, and studies of the art market in the Netherlands to explore the changing social values that defined this period. The meaning of art depends on its social and institutional setting.