Krantenknipsel betreffende Louis Meijer Possibly 1865

This is a Dutch newspaper clipping dating from 1865. Though the maker of the clipping is anonymous, it makes reference to the artist Louis Meijer and his donation of a painting to a 70-year old man in need. The story is not so much about the artwork itself, but about Meijer’s generosity and the chromolithographic print that was made of the painting so that it could be sold to benefit the man. The language of the clipping, which celebrates Meijer’s ‘noble heart’, shows how art and artists were being constructed as figures of morality, taste, and generosity. In purchasing the print, the Dutch public could participate in what the article describes as ‘a work of charity’. For historians, newspapers are invaluable sources of information about the public role of art. They show the way art and artists were talked about and the values they were made to represent.