Tulpen in een vaas 1844 - 1909

Sientje Mesdag-van Houten created this watercolour work, "Tulips in a Vase," sometime during her career, which spanned much of the 19th century. As a woman artist in this era, her access to formal training and exhibition opportunities would have been significantly limited compared to her male counterparts. Still life paintings, like this one, were considered an appropriate subject for women artists because it allowed them to demonstrate their artistic skills without challenging social norms around genre or subject matter. Mesdag-van Houten coaxes us to look at these tulips with a sense of intimacy. The lush flowers, rendered with delicate brushstrokes, embody a quiet, yet powerful assertion of self-expression. This painting may seem simple, but it invites us to consider the complex negotiations women artists undertook to find their place in the art world, using the space they were given, and quietly pushing the boundaries of those expectations.