Raised bog 

Wilhelm Kalb created this drawing of a raised bog with graphite on paper. It resides here, in the Städel Museum. Kalb was of a generation of German artists responding to their rapidly industrialising country. Some found solace in the untouched landscape, far from the pollution and social upheaval of the cities. In contrast to some of his contemporaries, Kalb’s landscape is unromantic, almost bleak. He gives us a glimpse into the cultural moment when many artists were turning away from the grand narratives of progress. Drawings like this would have been made in preparation for larger works. As such, we might see this study as a glimpse into the artist’s process. Art historians use these kinds of contextual clues – the artist’s other works, their personal history, and the social conditions in which they worked – to better understand the art of the past.