Zittende vrouw met een hoed c. 1935 - 1936

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this sketch of a seated woman with a hat. Little is known about the lives of Vreedenburgh's models, but we can still think about how class and gender are intertwined in this image. Hats in this time were not just fashion accessories, but signifiers of social status. How might the act of depicting a woman wearing a hat engage in the social norms of that time? Is Vreedenburgh commenting on, or complicit with, societal expectations? Consider the gaze of the woman. She is looking down, creating a sense of introspection, but it also makes her submissive. Consider what it means to be a woman, represented through the male gaze. As you stand here, what do you feel when you consider her identity, her story, perhaps lost to history?