Poten van een vogel 1876 - 1924

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof made this drawing titled 'Poten van een vogel' or 'Legs of a bird', with graphite on paper. Dijsselhof was a Dutch artist active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time of great social and artistic change. We see him here making a study of a bird's anatomy. Zoological Gardens were very popular at this time and offered a place where artists and scientists alike could study exotic creatures. The availability of these creatures, and the public's interest in them, reflect broader trends of colonialism and scientific exploration. Looking at the drawing, Dijsselhof focuses on capturing the unique structure and form of the bird's legs. His career began as an architectural draughtsman but later went on to embrace symbolism and Art Nouveau. The clean lines in this drawing shows his early training. To fully understand Dijsselhof's work, we can look at exhibition records, art criticism from the period, and studies of the cultural context in the Netherlands at the time. Art is always a product of its time, reflecting the interests and values of the society in which it was created.