Kniende Frauen und Obstflückerin 

Ludwig von Hofmann created this pencil drawing, Kniende Frauen und Obstflückerin, whose date is unknown. It’s full of idealized figures in nature. The artwork evokes a sense of classical harmony and connection to the land, yet this was made in Germany, a rapidly industrializing country, with all the associated social and environmental costs. The image then is a conscious, perhaps self-conscious, rejection of modernity in favor of a more traditional and pastoral vision of life. Hofmann would have been aware of debates about the role of art in society, especially the competing claims of academic conservatism and avant-garde experimentation. Images like this suggest a desire to return to a simpler, more natural way of life. One might investigate the growth of the ‘back to nature’ movement in Germany at this time and the institutional support it garnered. Art history reminds us that even seemingly timeless images are very much products of their own time and place.