Landscape with trees 

Editor: Here we have "Landscape with trees", a pen and ink drawing by Franz Kobell. It's located right here at the Städel Museum. It's a fairly simple landscape, and the line work has an almost playful quality. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: What I find interesting is how this drawing engages with the developing Romantic sensibility of the late 18th century. Kobell's emphasis on a natural landscape, absent of grand narrative or explicit symbolism, reflects a shifting social view. Art becomes less about illustrating power and more about exploring personal and emotional connections to the world. Do you see how the lack of human presence impacts the viewer? Editor: Absolutely. It does seem to create a sense of…isolation, maybe? The path seems like it should lead somewhere, but there's no one on it. Is that connected to the shift you were describing? Curator: Precisely. Think about the rising merchant class, the burgeoning interest in individual experience – these factors influenced both the art market and the artists themselves. Artists were now somewhat liberated from solely serving aristocratic patronage. Landscapes, like this one, become valuable not for their historical or allegorical content, but for their ability to evoke personal reflection and connection to nature. Consider how industrialization changed society at the time and therefore increased Romantic artists focus on natural beauty. What does this ink on paper suggests to you about landscape drawing’s purpose, within shifting societal norms? Editor: That makes so much sense! So, what seems like just a simple drawing is actually part of a much larger cultural conversation about individuality and our relationship with nature. I had not thought about how the changing economic status had this big impact. Curator: Exactly! The drawing becomes an accessible space for contemplation, a space previously occupied by more elaborate, exclusive art forms. Now, with a new perspective, what do you think of it? Editor: It's not just trees anymore, is it? I see it as a reflection of its time. Curator: Indeed. Every brushstroke carries a history within it, subtly telling a story of cultural change and reevaluation.