Billiards 1898

This is Anders Zorn's etching titled 'Billiards'. Though undated, it’s fair to assume it belongs to the artist’s most productive period during the late 19th century. Zorn was a Swedish artist with a reputation for society portraiture but also one that cultivated an interest in modern life. Here, we see a fashionable woman engaged in a game of billiards, a pursuit increasingly accessible to women of the upper classes. This image speaks volumes about the evolving roles of women in Western society at the time. Billiards, traditionally a male domain, becomes a space where gender norms are subtly challenged. The woman's confident stance and engagement in the game visually assert her presence in a space that had previously excluded her. By studying fashion plates, etiquette manuals, and social commentaries from the period, one can uncover a more detailed understanding of the changing social landscape that influenced both the artist and his subject. Contextualizing art is always necessary, revealing the silent dialogues that artworks hold with their own time.