This is a sketchbook with 4 leaves, made by Jan Veth, who was active in the Netherlands from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Sketchbooks like this one offer us a rare insight into the artistic process. What was Veth thinking and feeling as he put pencil to paper? What kinds of social or political issues might have informed his practice? Was he working in the studio, or "en plein air?" We can also examine the history of the institution that holds this work. How did the museum acquire it? How has it been curated and displayed over the years? These are the kinds of questions that art historians ask to understand the social conditions that shape artistic production and to evaluate the power of art to challenge existing social norms.