Landscape painting adding a cultural value to the Dutch countryside

Abstract

This article argues that cultural values should be included in policy making for the Dutch countryside. Since the sixteenth century the Dutch landscape has been a valued subject for art painters. This inheritance offers our rural areas a unique cultural value. This article focuses on the region surrounding The Hague, where painters from the so-called The Hague School had brought a large number of sites to their canvases. This group of painters was mainly active at the end of the nineteenth century. For this study, some of these sites have been located. This article presents images of the historic paintings as well as photos of the current views. From comparing the scenery on the painting with the current situation it is clear that much of the nineteenth century rural landscapes surrounding The Hague nowadays has been eroded by urbanisation. It is especially during the last few decades that most of these sites have disappeared. Therefore, protecting this specific cultural aspect of the Dutch countryside is an urgent matter that should be put on the agenda of land-use policy making.