Twee studies van een man die zijn schaatsen onderbindt 1770 - 1825

Simon Andreas Krausz made these two pen drawings of a man tying his skates, sometime around the turn of the 19th century. Born in Hanau, Germany, Krausz spent his career in the Netherlands. There, he produced genre scenes and portraits in the Dutch tradition. Notice how Krausz made this study: two versions of the same man in the same activity. This drawing has a double public role: as an artwork itself, and as a preparatory study that may have been used for a larger painting. It provides us with a glimpse into the work of the artist and the artist's studio in this period. The freezing of ordinary moments such as this one, elevated to the status of art, might have been considered quite progressive at the time. To understand this work, we must also be art historians. We must know about the artistic institutions and the social conventions in the Netherlands at the time this drawing was made. What kind of art did the public want to buy? What was considered a suitable subject for art? How did Dutch artists find their customers?