Boerenhuis aan de splitsing van een landweg 1783

Jan Bulthuis made this watercolor and pen drawing of a farmhouse on a country road in the Netherlands in the late 18th century. Bulthuis was known for topographical drawings like this, which documented the appearance of Dutch towns and landscapes at a time of significant social and political change. This image invites us to consider the Dutch countryside and the life of rural people. We see the thatched roofs, the dirt road, and the overcast sky. There’s a sense of the Dutch countryside as a place of labor and perhaps a slower pace of life. In the 1700s, the Netherlands was a republic, an anomaly in Europe at the time. How did the Dutch understand themselves as a people, and how did images of the countryside play a role in their sense of identity? To understand this image fully, art historians turn to sources such as old maps, agricultural records, and travel writing. These resources help us understand the image's context and reflect on the meaning of art as something shaped by its social and institutional surroundings.