Man zittend op een bank after 1847

Adrien Joseph Verhoeven-Ball made this drawing of a man seated on a bench using graphite on paper. Though simple, the medium of graphite offers a remarkable range, from soft grays to nearly black lines. This work is a study in contrasts, with the figure sharply defined against the bare paper, conveying the weight and texture of his clothing. The act of drawing itself invites a social commentary. Unlike painting, drawing is immediate, direct, and typically less concerned with display than with the capturing of a fleeting impression. The ease and portability of graphite align with the changing landscape of 19th-century Europe, where industrialization and urbanization were redrawing social classes and labor patterns. As such, the drawing's lack of embellishment echoes the simplicity of working-class life. It challenges the traditional hierarchy between the fine arts and the quotidian.