Bukkende man met een bijl c. 1855 - 1859

Jozef Israëls made this pencil drawing of a man with an ax sometime during his career in the Netherlands. It’s now preserved at the Rijksmuseum. Israëls, active in the second half of the 19th century, often focused on the lives of fishermen and rural laborers, and the scene depicted here seems rooted in that same social milieu. These sketches capture a figure in the midst of physical labor, a subject matter that resonated with the prevailing artistic interests of the time. This was when artists were beginning to grapple with the realities of industrialization and its impact on the working class. The drawing's raw, unfinished quality offers a glimpse into Israëls' artistic process. His choice to depict working-class subjects invites us to reflect on the social and economic conditions of the Netherlands during that period. By consulting historical records, such as census data and economic reports, we can better understand the lives and struggles of the people Israëls portrayed in his art. Ultimately, our understanding of this drawing is contingent on its social and institutional context.