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The picturesque between politics and private life. B.C. Koekkoek’s Luxembourg landscapes for king Willem II.This article reconstructs and interprets the commission by king Willem II to painter B.C. Koekkoek, for a series of nine Luxembourg landscapes in 1845. Its genesis is seen against the background of Willem’s patronage and art collection. On the one hand Koekkoek’s paintings confirm the usual image of the king as a nostalgic person, who collected out of a need to escape from the political reality. On the other hand, reading the paintings in the context of the political turmoil in Belgium and Luxembourg in 1830-1839 convincingly demonstrates that for Willem art could in fact have strong political connotations.

Against the Catholics or the constitution? Catholic views on the April-movement of 1853.In the month of April 1853 agitation originated among protestants in the Netherlands about the restoration of the hierarchy of the roman-catholic church. Massive protest-movements sprouted up and cumulated in the presentation of the Amsterdam address to the king. As a consequence the cabinet-Thorbecke resigned and was succeeded by the cabinet-Van Hall, after which peace returned. An interpretation, which has dominated the debate for a long time, is that the April-movement was an attempt of orthodox protestants and the king to prevent – in whatever form – the catholic emancipation in the Netherlands. Moreover, according this interpretation orthodox protestants and the king tried to use the April-movement to reverse the liberal revision of the constitution of 1848. Recently, the tide of historiography is turning. Upon closer examination it appears all kind of motives played a role in the April-movement, such as considerations and feelings of political, religious and nationalistic character. The analysis in this article strengthens the new interpretation of the April-movement by adding the perspective of Catholics. It appears that the response of Catholics was dictated by several, sometimes contradictory motives: respect for the pope, gratitude for the obligingness of the cabinet-Thorbecke, relief that they were finally granted equal rights in relation to the protestants, and understanding versus incomprehension of the protestant protest. On the one hand Catholics had difficulty with the protestant unrest, as it seemed to be aimed against their emancipation, while on the other hand they were very understanding, because the protestants were saddled with a fait accompli which was introduced with great aplomb. Accordingly, the traditional interpretation of the April-movement as a reactionary response of orthodox protestants loses further ground.

The Kinker Association in Liège (1886-c. 1913).The Kinker Association was founded in 1886 for the benefit of the many Dutch-speaking Flemings living and working in francophone Liège. Organizing lectures on a variety of subjects, the Association attempted to exert an emancipatory influence. Not only did it set up an extensive Dutch library but it also provided access to medical care and insurance. Above all, the Kinker Association wanted to boost the presence of Dutch-related cultural activities in the city. With its liberal sympathies and close links to the Willems Fonds, the Association met with opposition from various quarters, not least from the Catholic Church. This article looks in detail at the genesis, and rise and fall of the Association, its membership and its place and appeal within the wider socio-cultural context of late-nineteenth-century Wallonia.

‘Art is money’. Public policy with regard to art education in nineteenth century Belgium.At the turn of the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, art education in the southern Netherlands was still in its infancy. Artistic life however soon blossomed and the young Belgian nation that emerged in 1830 aspired a prominent cultural role on the European continent. Yet the part of politicians in the success of Belgian artists has always remained somewhat unclear. How were the relations between the major educational institutions and the national government? Did nineteenth century politicians care about art and if so, did they have clear ideas about cultural policy? This article explores their ideas about art education, as a part of an emerging national cultural policy.

From alley cat to puss. The emergence of the cat as a pet in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century.This article outlines the emergence of the cat as a pet in the Netherlands in the nine teenth century, in the context of similar developments in Great Britain, France and the United States. After a long history of on the one hand adoration and on the other demonization, the cat was generally accepted in the home as a pet in the late nineteenth century. On the basis of a wide scale study of literature, art, but especially contemporary newspaper articles, it has been possible to discern the steady rise in esteem of the cat throughout the nineteenth century. Artists appropriating the cat as an iconic symbol played a significant role in the process. At the other end of the scale, it was the urban middle-class who first adopted the cat as a domestic companion.

‘Against pastry-cooks and managing directors’. Dutch actors, sociability and countervailing power, c. 1900.Up to now, no systematic research has been done on the origin and development of independent actors’ interest groups circa 1900, an interesting period in the social and theatrical history of the Netherlands. This article takes a detailed look at the pioneering years and the circumstances of failing and fast demise of the first Dutch actors union (‘de Bond van Nederlandsche Tooneelisten’, 1898). Important roles in this union were played by both famous and anonymous actors, stage-managers and directors, as well as by the outstanding playwright Herman Heijermans. The creation and functioning of this early organisation are outlined within a broader scope of interpretation, i.e. social and theatrical developments in the Dutch fin de siècle.

Patronage relationships in art and literature in the nineteenth century. The cases of Multatuli and Jan Kneppelhout.This article addresses the workings of individual patronage relationships in the nineteenth century, focusing on the (competitive and supportive) alliances between Dutch benefactor Johannes Kneppelhout and his protégés on one hand, and those between Dutch writer Multatuli and his patrons on the other. It is very probable that in the interaction between patron(s) and artist(s) the ancient patronage rule of ‘do ut des’ will have applied – but how exactly did these patrons and artists position themselves within these circles? What were they prepared to invest in their alliances, and what sort of profit did they expect in return? These questions will be tackled by using insights from gift theory, as developed by sociologists Aafke Komter and Alvin Gouldner.

Dutch nineteenth century monarchs as patrons of musical art.This contribution serves as an introduction to the musical activities of the three nineteenth-century Dutch monarchs Willem I, II and III. Contrary to received wisdom all three displayed interest in music, but acted upon these interests in their own individual way. Whereas Willem I sought to unite public and personal interests by founding conservatories, his son Willem II contented himself with supporting individual composers or works according to his own preferences. By offering grants for talented young musicians, Willem III instituted yet another form of support. On the whole, all three focused primarily on stimulating opera, which suggests that they silently acknowledged the value of this genre in establishing and representing court culture.

Theodore Delprat’s respectable collection. The European elite of the Dutch East Indies ca. 1900.The Dutch nineteenth-century colonial entrepreneur and politician Theodore Delprat (1851-1932) collected a wide variety of photographs, personal memorabilia, European art-objects and ethnographic artefacts. Deprat’s collection can be seen as the materialized condensation of the immaterial social and cultural codes that structured the elite’s life in the Dutch East Indies. Therefore, the collection gives us insight into processes of accumulating social and cultural capital. Following the acquisition and circulation of these objects, I will reconstruct how successful social behaviour was organized in both the colony and the motherland, and the way in which the collection reveals the multi-layered social identity of the collector. I will argue that these social processes were not located in a closed-off colonial space, but in permanent interaction with the European metropole. In this article, I will challenge the traditional view of the colonial elite as set apart from the national elite, by placing the social life in the colony and its counterpart in the European metropole in one analytic frame. Most importantly, I will analyze the way in which these collected objects both passively reflected ánd actively structured the social life of this elite.

Art’s eternal youth. Originality and creation, and the case of Frédéric van der Kerkhove (1862-1873).This article discusses the controversy around Frédéric Van de Kerkhove, an infirm artistic child genius whose work created a sensation in the 1870s. The existence of the wonder boy was revealed shortly after his premature death in 1873, at the age of ten, when claims were made that he had produced hundreds of brilliant and stunningly original landscape paintings, which made him one of the greatest masters of all times. A campaign was mounted to exhibit his work, followed, however, by a polemic in which non-believers cried fraud whilst believers reconstructed the boy’s life along the Vasarian tropes of the precocious child genius. On a deeper level, the controversy revolved around issues of originality and influence, convention and naïve artistic instinct. For his supporters, the young and unlearned painter embodied, in a proto-modernist twist, the autonomous principle of artistic creation itself: a primitive creative force independent of time and place, training and influence; a mythic creative principle ingrained in nature itself, spontaneously budding as the birth of life itself.

Citizenship education in the middle of the nineteenth century. National history and the participating citizen.Studies of nineteenth-century Dutch discourses of citizenship tend to focus on political, legal and literary discussions. This article aims to broaden the scope of the research field, by analysing models of ‘good citizenship’ that informed Dutch national history education in the middle of the nineteenth century. When we focus on schoolbooks and other didactic instruments, it becomes clear that around 1860 a new type of history education emerged that moved away from a passive notion of citizenship, towards an idea centred on civic self-awareness and active participation of the Dutch in societal life.

Female novelists in the Netherlands, 1790-1899. Facts, figures and popular images.Both present-day literary historians and nineteenth-century critics agree that between 1790 and 1899, the absolute and relative number of female novelists in the Netherlands increased. They tend to describe this increase in strong, and when it comes to the nineteenth-century critics, often negative terms. This research shows there was indeed a numerical and percentage growth of novels written by female authors, but the trend was definitely not linear and there were huge differences between the percentage contribution of Dutch, English, French and German female writers. So why then this discrepancy between, on the one hand, a very slow and modest change and, on the other hand, this often vehement contemporary resistence against female novelists? This can be understood against the background of the professionalization of authorship after 1850 and the changing status of the novel as a literary genre. With the steady rise of the novel’s status, the prevailing sentiment among literary critics was that the novel was too important to be left to women writers. Therefore, when at the end of the nineteenth century the output of novels written by women reached a certain critical level, the female novel was treated as a separate category and put in a place of her own, outside the most highly valued literary domain.

Where State and Civil Society meet. Cooperation between reformers and politicians, 1840-1880.The relationship between the Dutch state and civil society in the period between 1840 and1880 was harmonious and marked by a cooperative attitude on the part of both reformers and politicians. Before 1840, King William I had controlled associational life to ensure that his policies received support, but after his abdication, and especially after the liberal 1848 constitution, more outspoken reform organizations managed to shape policy-making. For a large part, reform organizations were still immersed in the older deferential political culture, which was intensified by the small scale of the country. Still, reform organizations could operate effectively since their members were closely acquainted with government officials. Using mainly antislavery and temperance as case studies, the article explores the cooperation between government and civil society on specific reform legislation. Finally, the question whether this period can be regarded as an early version of the ‘politics of accomodation’ or the ‘poldermodel’ is addressed and answered negatively.

‘It is as a first lady, that I need you’. The political involvement of Adelheid Thorbecke-Solger, 1840-1870.Historians working on nineteenth-century politics and gender usually assume that women exerted no actual influence on national politics. Adelheid Thorbecke- Solger (1817-1870), the wife of J.R. Thorbecke (1798-1872), the most important Dutch statesman of the nineteenth century, has been put in this category. This article challenges this view by analysing her political involvement. On the basis of correspondence, her diary and other accounts, the article illustrates that she was directly involved with her husband’s political career. She supported her husband emotionally, often visited the parliament, assisted Thorbecke by managing his archive and wrote accounts of important political decisions and events. She gathered valuable political information from politicians and even the royal family, which contributed to her husband’s success. She suggested useful people to her husband and, on request, probably used her influence to intercede in both personal and political affairs. Adelheid Thorbecke-Solger is the first wife of a Dutch politician who has been investigated in this light and could therefore serve as an example of a new perspective on the political involvement of nineteenth-century women.

European Romanticism in early nineteenth-century Flemish literature. ‘De geest’ [‘The ghost’], a peculiar poem of Theodoor Van Ryswyck (1811-1849).This article offers a textual analysis and contextual study of the 1837 narrative poem ‘De geest,’ by Theodoor Van Ryswyck (1811-1849), who is often referred to as the Flemish popular poet par excellence. The analysis of the text shows that Van Ryswyck was acquainted with literary Romanticism and that he applied Romantic ideas and literary features in his poems; he introduced Romanticism into early-nineteenth-century Flemish literature. In addition to its literary pioneering role, ‘De geest’ also had an important cultural-national function in the Belgian nation-state, only seven years old at the time. Together with other texts, for example the works of Conscience, it laid the foundation for the nationaldidactic poetics of nineteenth-century Flemish literature and contributed to the development of a Flemish (sub)national consciousness and identity. This article finally casts doubt on Van Ryswyck’s image as a popular poet.