Although Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is today perhaps the most famous Dutch artist of all, in his own time he was relatively little known, especially when compared to artists of the Hague School. This group, named for the city where many of its members trained and worked, was comprised of those who had different styles but shared a devotion to the depiction of everyday life, looking to the Dutch countryside for their subjects and themes. The Hague School artists achieved international fame, and in the early 1900s US collectors and museums—including the MFA—eagerly sought their works. But over the decades the group’s fame faded.

“Landscape and Labor: Dutch Works on Paper in Van Gogh’s Time” presents the Hague School at its best. Visitors can see watercolors, prints, and drawings by artists such as Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch (1824–1903), Anton van Rappard (1858–1892), and Anton Mauve (1838–1888). Though they are not now household names in the United States, these figures had a profound impact on the artists of their time and future generations. Mauve, in particular, played a key role in Van Gogh’s early life and career. Van Gogh himself is also represented here, with two early works.

The Hague School artists focused on farmers, fisherfolk, laborers, mills, canals, and dunes as their subjects, in part to convey a patriotic love of the countryside. In the densely populated and rapidly industrializing Netherlands, rural subjects recalled a simpler time and a simpler way of life—both of which were quickly disappearing. This exhibition shines a light once more on a neglected group of artists who, working in a changing time, captured vanishing ways of life using modern artistic styles as their tools.