Omgevallen boom in een landschap 1886

Alexis Forel etched this image of a fallen tree in a landscape, but the date of its making is unknown. Forel was a Swiss artist, and this print gives us a glimpse into the cultural milieu in which he worked. In nineteenth-century Europe, a renewed interest in the natural world was emerging, with an increasing number of people advocating for the preservation of nature. Artists played a role in shaping this new consciousness. Forel's choice to depict a fallen tree perhaps speaks to a certain ecological anxiety. Is it an emblem of human impact on the environment, or a more general memento mori? Art historians might look to periodicals, pamphlets, and political writings of the time, as well as the history of conservation, to develop a better understanding of this image. The meaning of any work of art is always tied to the culture from which it emerges.