Tien honden in en voor een hondenhok 1821 - 1886

Dirk Jurriaan Sluyter made this oil on panel artwork, titled 'Ten Dogs In and Around a Doghouse', in the Netherlands, sometime in the 19th century. Sluyter’s delightful dog painting captures a slice of Dutch bourgeois life, where pets, particularly dogs, were increasingly becoming symbols of domestic comfort and status. The rise of the middle class in the Netherlands during the 19th century brought about a change in attitudes towards animals. The painting may look like a simple depiction of domesticity, but what can it tell us about the broader social conditions of artistic production? Museum records and auction catalogs help us to understand how art was bought and sold, and what kind of institutions enabled artists like Sluyter to make a living. By delving into these records, we uncover not only the artwork's history, but also its role in shaping and reflecting the social norms of its time.