Zuiderzeestrand 1885 - 1931

Frederika Henriëtte Broeksmit made this etching, titled 'Zuiderzeestrand', with a plate height of almost 30 cm and a width of almost 40 cm. It shows a stand of trees to the left, and the lines of the shore extending to the right. Broeksmit lived through both World Wars, seeing how institutions of culture, like museums and universities, were devastated by war. She was part of a generation of artists who turned to landscape as a retreat from social conflict, finding solace in the natural world. This etching is less concerned with the lives of people and more concerned with the forms of nature. Historians can draw on a range of resources to understand the position of artists like Broeksmit, including letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and institutional records. It helps us understand the social conditions that shape artistic production.