Schaatsende jongen op de rug gezien 1788 - 1835

François Joseph Pfeiffer II made this drawing of a skater in sanguine, or red chalk. The work’s social context speaks volumes. Art academies of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the one in Pfeiffer’s native Switzerland, used drawing as a tool to inculcate students into the prevailing aesthetic and social order. Standardized poses and figure types were repeated over and over, in order to train the student’s hand and eye. But more than that, the system was meant to reproduce social elites and to police the boundaries of who could be considered an artist. This image creates meaning, therefore, not only through its deft handling of line and the figure’s jaunty pose, but also through its participation in these institutional practices. To understand it better, we might consult the records of the Swiss art academy, seeking to understand its place in the school’s curriculum and pedagogical regime.