Staand mannelijk naakt, op de rug gezien (1e prijs 1774) Possibly 1774

Wybrand Hendriks made this chalk drawing of a standing male nude in 1774. The artwork earned him first prize in a competition. Hendriks, born in the Dutch Republic, lived through a period of great political and social change. The Dutch Republic was a major center for art production at this time, supported by institutions like the Haarlem Drawing Academy where Hendriks would later become director. The drawing embodies a strong sense of classical idealism in its focus on the male nude as the object of study, a characteristic that art academies promoted. But there’s also a tension, as academies were invested in maintaining the status quo, while the practice of life drawing was thought to challenge traditional hierarchies. Understanding this drawing involves studying the academy's records, the artist's biography, and the history of art education itself. This kind of research helps us to see art as a product of its time, shaped by social, cultural, and institutional forces.