Herderin met kudde schapen 1866 - 1894

Curator: What a wonderfully moody etching. It feels like stepping into a nineteenth-century storybook. Editor: It does have a quaint feel to it. This is "Herderin met kudde schapen" or "Shepherdess with a Flock of Sheep" by Willem Steelink II, created sometime between 1866 and 1894. Steelink was part of a later generation of Dutch realist painters. His pieces often depicted landscapes and scenes of everyday rural life. Curator: The scene is so delicately rendered. I’m struck by the textural contrast: the rough bark of the trees against the soft, fluffy sheep. And the darkness on the right pulls my eye inward, while the lighter sky allows the work to breathe. Editor: The use of light and shadow is typical of the Hague School of painting, a group of artists also working at this time who aimed to capture the atmosphere of the Dutch landscape. We also see elements of genre painting, with the shepherdess going about her daily life tending to the sheep and a humble thatched cottage. Consider how genre painting like this offered idealized views of peasant life for urban consumers. Curator: Exactly, it presents an almost nostalgic view of rural life, which had real socio-political implications. With the rapid industrialization of the Netherlands during Steelink's time, paintings like this provided a romanticized vision of an agrarian past and a way to consider values associated with simplicity and tradition. Editor: Right. Think of how those narratives shaped national identity during the rise of nation-states in Europe, often obscuring real issues of rural poverty. This image can also bring up more personal questions about whose labor gets seen, and whose remains invisible within our collective memory. The artist includes it, but is there really some attention? Curator: That's so relevant here. I'm taking away new points. Editor: And I’m reminded how essential the socio-political is. Thank you for that wonderful dialogue.