Zeilboot c. 1841 - 1865

This pencil drawing of a sailboat was made by Petrus Johannes Schotel, a Dutch artist who lived in the 19th century. It’s a relatively simple sketch, but it speaks to the social and economic importance of seafaring to the Netherlands at that time. In the 19th century, the Dutch Golden Age was a distant memory, but maritime trade and naval power were still central to the country’s identity. Schotel was the son of Johannes Christiaan Schotel, a renowned marine painter. Artists like the Schotels helped to foster a sense of national pride. The Rijksmuseum itself was founded during this period as a way of displaying that cultural identity. To fully understand a drawing like this, we need to look at the wider visual culture of 19th-century Holland, paying attention to the institutions and the political and economic forces that helped shape the art.