Meer in een berglandschap 1834 - 1906

Maria Vos made this drawing, “Meer in een berglandschap,” or "Lake in a Mountain Landscape," with a pencil. Vos was part of a generation of women artists in the Netherlands who, though formally excluded from the established art academies, nonetheless sought out artistic training through private lessons, and participated in drawing clubs and other artistic associations. While landscape painting was a common and popular genre at the time, it was often associated with male artists who travelled and painted “en plein air.” Consider then, Vos's decision to portray a scene of nature, and think about the institutional frameworks that may have shaped her access to subject matter, and how these may have influenced the ways in which she could create her art. Historians of art can research the formal exhibition records of the time and analyse the composition of artistic associations to better understand these issues. Art always exists in relation to social and institutional contexts.