Portret van een vrouw in zwart kanten jurk c. 1885 - 1890

Mathias Korn captured this portrait of a woman in a black lace dress using photography, a relatively new medium at the time. Looking at this portrait, we can see a woman dressed in a black lace dress, a popular fashion among upper-middle-class women in Europe during the late 19th century. Photography during this time became more accessible to the middle class, which meant more people had access to portraiture. It democratized the concept of portraiture. Before this time, only the very rich could afford to have a painted portrait of themselves. The image also reflects the changing role of women in society at that time. While women were still largely confined to the domestic sphere, they were also beginning to participate more in public life, particularly in areas such as education, charity, and the arts. By studying photographs like this one, along with other period documents, we can gain insight into the social, cultural, and artistic norms of the time. The institutional history of photography itself tells us much about the democratization of art.