Jongen knielend naast een meisje 1834 - 1903

Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch made this pencil drawing of a boy kneeling next to a girl, but the date of its making is unknown. It is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Although little is known about the image, we can speculate that it was made during the 19th century in the Netherlands. This was a time when the Industrial Revolution had reached the Netherlands and new schools were being established, with an emphasis on standardized education. The drawing may be an example of 'genre art,' a tradition that rose to prominence at this time. Art historians use a variety of research tools to understand art's role in society and the intentions of the artist. These include archival research, biographical investigations, and the study of other contemporary art. These methods show us that artworks reflect a world of political ideas, and these ideas can change over time.