Schepen 1880

Louis Apol made this drawing of boats with a pencil on paper. Apol lived from 1850 to 1936, a time when the Netherlands was undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization, and his landscapes often reflect a sense of nostalgia for a disappearing rural way of life. This sketch gives us insight into the artist’s process. Holland’s extensive network of canals and waterways has always been essential for transport and trade and Apol captures this in his image of boats. The sketch seems to reflect the culture of the Hague School, a group of Dutch artists active during Apol's lifetime. They reacted against the academic style of art education and preferred to paint en plein air, recording the everyday life of the Dutch landscape. The boats are not depicted in a heroic light, but rather as common sights in the Dutch landscape. To further understand Apol's work, it’s helpful to consider the cultural context in which it was made, using resources like exhibition catalogs, period journals, and municipal archives.