Grazende koe 1876 - 1910

Alphonse Stengelin made this drawing of a grazing cow with pen in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The image is a study of rural life, a subject that gained prominence with the rise of industrialization and urbanization. Pictures of farm animals and the countryside became symbolic of a past way of life. This was a period when art academies across Europe reinforced traditional artistic values, often emphasizing the depiction of rural scenes as a form of national identity. France was, at this time, experiencing great social change, with the rise of the Third Republic. Many artists at this time challenged the dominance of academic art, forming independent exhibition societies and exploring new subject matter and styles. Historians turn to exhibition records, artists' letters, and social histories to understand the context in which art like this was made and viewed. The meaning of this drawing, like all art, shifts depending on the cultural and institutional context in which it is encountered.