Landschap met bomen en struikgewas 1809 - 1840

Carel Lodewijk Hansen made this drawing of trees and undergrowth with pen and gray ink, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. The image presents a tranquil scene, seemingly untouched. But the social history of landscape art in the Netherlands at this time reveals a more complex picture. During the Dutch Golden Age, landscape painting became a way for the rising merchant class to celebrate their connection to the land, and to express civic and national pride. This was also a time of rapid urbanization and industrialization. Drawings like this one can be understood as a response to those changes. As cities grew, there was a longing for the countryside, a sense of nostalgia for a simpler way of life. Artists and writers idealized rural landscapes as places of purity, authenticity, and escape. The study of archives, and literature from the period can reveal how such images reflected and shaped the cultural values of their time.