Vrouwen Gang te Amsterdam 1870 - 1926

Willem Wenckebach made this print of the Vrouwen Gang in Amsterdam with etching. The image presents us with a slice of daily life in the city, but it is also interesting to consider what sort of vision of Amsterdam Wenckebach was hoping to project. The scene features a canal with modest houses on either side. The name Vrouwen Gang translates to "women's passage," so it is possible that the location had specific associations with the lives and labor of women in Amsterdam. Wenckebach worked at a time when artists were taking a greater interest in the lives of ordinary people. Etchings like this one were relatively inexpensive to produce and collect, so they were particularly well suited to representing the urban environment. To understand more fully the meaning of this image, we can consult archives and local historical societies. The history of art is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.