Landschap in de omgeving van Gent met bebouwing aan het water c. 1811 - 1831

"Landschap in de omgeving van Gent met bebouwing aan het water," or Landscape near Ghent with buildings by the water, is an etching by Pierre François De Noter. De Noter produced this work sometime in the late 18th to mid-19th century. De Noter was from a family of painters, and in this intimate landscape we might consider the relationship between artistic representation and the economic realities of the time. Ghent was an important industrial center, and De Noter's choice to depict the landscape, rather than the industry, reflects the Romantic era’s longing for the tranquility of nature, in contrast to the rapid urban and industrial development. However, the buildings along the water remind us of the integration of labor into the landscape. The people included in the work are small, perhaps suggesting their relationship to the enormity of nature, or the relative unimportance of the working class. This etching invites us to reflect on the romanticized views of labor, and the environmental impacts of industry on the land.