Oude man met wandelstok en een gitaar onder zijn arm 1866 - 1910

Louis van Engelen created this etching, "Old man with a walking stick and a guitar under his arm," sometime between 1870 and 1940. During Van Engelen’s life, rapid industrialization transformed Dutch society, creating new class divisions and social anxieties. This work captures the vulnerability of aging and questions of economic stability through the figure of an itinerant musician. The man's weathered face and worn clothing speak to a life of hardship, while the guitar hints at a potential for joy. Is the guitar a symbol of hope, or a reminder of lost dreams? The figure challenges the traditional image of the virile, productive man, instead offering a vision of aging with both dignity and precarity. This image resonates because it invites us to reflect on our own attitudes toward aging, labor, and the value we place on human life.