Man met juk, op de rug gezien c. 1886 - 1903

Isaac Israels made this sketch of a man with a yoke, seen from the back, with charcoal on paper. The stark lines and focus on labor connect to broader social concerns of the late 19th century. In this period, artists across Europe turned their attention to the lives of working people. Israels, working in the Netherlands, captures the physical strain of the man carrying heavy loads. The yoke, a wooden frame across his shoulders, distributes weight, but the sketch conveys the burden nonetheless. The sketch engages with social realism, a movement critiquing industrialization's impact on the working class. By depicting the laborer's daily struggle, Israels invites viewers to consider the human cost of economic progress. This artwork serves as a document of its time. Understanding this sketch requires researching labor conditions and artistic movements of the late 19th century. Art becomes meaningful when seen within its social and institutional context.