Tenten of marktkramen c. 1828 - 1897

Adrianus Eversen made this sketch of market stalls with pencil on paper in the nineteenth-century Netherlands. Eversen specialized in topographical paintings of Dutch cities. His paintings are celebrations of Dutch civic life, particularly urban architecture, but this image shows the underdrawings of an artist. In nineteenth-century Dutch art, there was a tradition of depicting urban life as a sign of national pride and identity. Artists found a ready market for their works, due to the rise of the middle class and the art market. The Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam shaped artistic styles and promoted certain kinds of historical subject matter. Market scenes such as this one show that ordinary people had a right to participate in the national culture. The relative lack of finish is unusual for Dutch academic painting of this period. To understand the art of this period, it is helpful to look at nineteenth-century newspapers and other records of social life. What does this image tell us about the daily life of the people who visited and worked at the market?