Schetsboek met 42 bladen 1874 - 1925

This is the cover of a sketchbook with 42 pages by Jan Veth, held at the Rijksmuseum. A sketchbook offers us a privileged insight into the artistic process. It is a personal and often informal space where artists record their initial ideas, experiment with different techniques, and develop their visual language. Looking at the contents of this sketchbook, we can ask how Veth, working in the Netherlands, situated himself within the artistic and intellectual debates of his time. Was he engaging with the social realism that was emerging as a powerful force in European art? Or was he more interested in exploring the formal possibilities of drawing and painting, perhaps influenced by the Symbolist movement? By studying Veth's sketchbook, along with his other works, letters, and the writings of his contemporaries, we can gain a deeper understanding of his place in the cultural landscape of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.