Boerin met een schoffel op het land

Willem Witsen made this pencil drawing of a farmer with a hoe, but we don't know exactly when. What we do know is that Witsen was a Dutchman who lived through the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. At this time, Dutch art was undergoing a period of self-reflection, particularly in its relation to the French art world. Witsen was part of the "Amsterdam Impressionism" movement that sought to render everyday scenes and people, like this farmer, in a naturalistic style. The loose sketch captures a fleeting moment in the life of someone who worked the land for a living, and although it seems unromantic, it reflects a progressive interest in capturing ordinary life, and representing on paper a social class that was often overlooked in academic art. To better understand drawings like this, a historian might study old newspapers and political pamphlets, or the records of art schools and exhibition venues. Only then can we understand the meaning of this drawing as something dependent on its social and institutional context.