Schets van een opgezette eend 1848 - 1927

August Allebé sketched this study of a stuffed duck with a graphite pencil sometime in the late 19th century. This drawing is located in the Rijksmuseum. In the 19th century, the Dutch art world underwent significant shifts, and art academies played a crucial role in shaping artistic styles and approaches. Allebé himself was a professor at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, a key institution in the Dutch art education system. Drawings like this one were part of academic training. They emphasized the importance of studying from life, even if that life was already preserved for study. By having students draw taxidermied animals, instructors could control the object of study. This reveals the power of institutions to shape artistic production and reception. To understand this drawing better, we can look at the institutional history of the Rijksakademie and the changing role of art education in Dutch society. By studying the history of Dutch art institutions, we can better understand the values and priorities of the art world at the time.