Landschap met een beek 1834 - 1911

Jozef Israëls made this pen and ink drawing, entitled "Landscape with a Brook", in the Netherlands at some point during his career. The sketch seems to exemplify the kind of unsentimental naturalism that developed in Dutch painting from the middle of the 19th century. Israëls, along with others, founded the Hague School in 1860. The goal of the Hague School was to depict the natural landscape of the Netherlands as faithfully as possible, as seen in the simplicity of this drawing. This approach can be seen as a reaction to the dominant style of Romanticism, which idealized landscapes and historical scenes. By contrast, Israëls and his contemporaries sought to present a more direct view of rural life. To understand this work more deeply, we might explore 19th-century Dutch art criticism and the rise of landscape painting within the academy. This is where the historian's work comes in, reminding us that art's significance lies in its dialogue with the society and institutions of its time.