Landschap met molens aan een rivier 1865

Johannes Tavenraat made this drawing with pen in brown inkt, entitled "Landschap met molens aan een rivier" or "Landscape with windmills on a river." Tavenraat, who lived from 1809 to 1881, was part of a changing world, one in which industrialization was on the rise. So, what does it mean to find windmills depicted here? The painting does not explicitly state the answer but it could be viewed from different angles. Perhaps Tavenraat was making a statement on the progress of the modern world, or perhaps he was more interested in the nostalgia of a past time. Either way, this piece leaves us in a space of contemplation and curiosity about the world's shifting dynamics at this time.