Oude vrouw aan tafel (Malle Teun) 1874 - 1925

Jan Veth created this drawing, "Old Woman at the Table," using pen and brown ink, with touches of red chalk. These are traditional materials, but Veth's method feels immediate, almost journalistic. Look closely, and you can see how Veth used long, rapid strokes of the pen to define the old woman's form and the space around her. This technique, combined with the stark contrast between the ink and the paper, gives the drawing a raw, almost unsettling quality. The strokes don't just depict the scene; they convey the labor and the speed with which the artist worked. The choice of subject, an elderly woman, brings themes of labor and class into focus. Her weary posture and the humble setting speak volumes about her life and the social conditions that shaped it. By drawing attention to these materials and the making process, we recognize the wider social issues of labor and class that are deeply ingrained in the artwork, bridging the gap between fine art and the everyday.