Where We Live

In the 1937 Verkade album *Waar Wij Wonen* (*Where We Live*), Jac. P. Thijsse – the Netherlands’ most engaging natural history teacher – describes the natural history of our country. Naturally, he writes that we must protect nature. At the same time, he is fascinated by technical and economic progress. Although human intervention has harmful consequences for nature, Thijsse is not embittered: he continues to enthusiastically draw attention to the need to preserve nature. Etchings by Karel Wetselaar It is noteworthy that the Zaan polder landscape does not feature in the Verkade album *Waar Wij Wonen* (*Where We Live*). That is why, alongside the watercolours and pen-and-ink drawings from the album, we are also exhibiting the etchings by the Zaan-based artist Karel Wetselaar (1935–2017). In his work, he seeks the silence and tranquillity of nature. People are absent, for, as he puts it: ‘they disturb the peace’. Together with the original watercolours from the Verkade album *Waar Wij Wonen*, they depict the beauty and richness of the Dutch landscape – from vast polders to major rivers and vibrant heaths and marshes.