Cows Looking Back: Agriculture and Life in 19th Century Landscape Paintings

Narratives of growth and yield are pervasive when the history of Danish agriculture is written, and works of art are often used to illustrate the story. But what kind of world can art open up for us when it is not only seen to be illustrating a development, but looks back at us through the eyes of the cows? What story do the artists let the cows tell? This article looks at works purchased for SMK – National Gallery of Denmark in the period 1880 to 1900, a time when the industrialisation of Danish agriculture took off in earnest. The article investigates how the artworks reflect the overall change in our relationship with the world which took place when the cow became a production animal instead of an ally.