Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 22 c. 1884 - 1887

This faint transfer of a chalk drawing was made by Willem Witsen, a Dutch artist active around the turn of the twentieth century. The subject appears to be a waterscape with boats and perhaps some buildings in the distance. Witsen belonged to a circle of artists known as the Amsterdam Impressionists, who took inspiration from the French Impressionist movement but focused especially on scenes of daily life in the Netherlands. They aimed to capture fleeting moments and evoke moods through subtle tonal variations. Witsen came from a wealthy family and was thus independent from the official institutions of art and the marketplace, but his work still found its way into public collections like the Rijksmuseum, revealing the complex interplay of social class, artistic vision, and institutional validation. The Rijksmuseum's archives, along with other historical resources, would be invaluable in shedding further light on the cultural context that shaped this intriguing and delicate image.