Bomen 1874 - 1875

Willem Cornelis Rip made this drawing, titled "Bomen", with graphite, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. Rip lived during a period of significant social change, marked by urbanization and industrialization, which impacted artistic representations of the landscape. The sketch offers insight into the artistic practices of the time, when studies of nature were considered essential for landscape painters. This work, with its delicate lines, contrasts starkly with romanticized depictions of nature. Rip's trees appear almost ghostly, as if on the verge of disappearing. In a world undergoing rapid transformation, landscape art also became a way to explore themes of identity and belonging. Perhaps Rip, through this drawing, captured the transient relationship between humanity and nature. The sketch invites us to reflect on our own place within the natural world, and what it means to witness its changing form.