Gezicht op Anyar

Paulus Lauters made this print of Anyar with etching and drypoint. Lauters, a Belgian artist, never traveled to Java, so the image is likely a composite based on other artists' work and written descriptions. Anyar, now Anyer, in Indonesia, was an important transit port. The image is divided in two; to the left the natural landscape, to the right, traces of the Dutch East Indies Company. Palms and dense foliage border a shoreline where figures haul a boat. A Dutch flag flies above a European building on the opposite shore, staking a claim on the landscape. The scene tells us about the commercial traffic of the Sunda Strait, but also the story of Dutch colonialism. To understand this image further, research into the archives of the Dutch East Indies company would be invaluable, as would more information about the cultural exchange between the Netherlands and its colonies.