Landschap met boerenwoning 1860 - 1910

Alfred Elsen created this etching called 'Landschap met boerenwoning', or 'Landscape with farmhouse', in the late 19th or early 20th century. Elsen, who lived through a time of significant social change, captures a seemingly simple rural scene. However, consider that Elsen was painting during a time when the idyllic view of country life was heavily romanticized. His choice to depict the landscape in such a way invites us to reflect on whose perspectives are often unseen. Whose labor sustains these landscapes and whose stories go untold? How does this image uphold the narrative of a peaceful countryside, while potentially obscuring the realities of the working class who lived and worked there? Elsen's landscape invites a conversation about the intersection of representation, labor, and the narratives that dominate our understanding of history and the construction of the "rural idyll".