Briefkaart aan Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk Possibly 1891

This pre-printed postal card, bearing both a Dutch postage stamp and a German postmark, was sent to Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk, the director of Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam, in 1891. What might a cultural historian make of such an artifact? To start, we might note the explicit marking of international cooperation. The card is labeled in Dutch and French, referencing the Universal Postal Union, a clear sign of increasing globalization. More locally, we can ask about Rotterdam’s position as a port city and how that may have connected the city to artistic trends circulating abroad. To learn more, we could explore Rijsewijk's role as a museum director and the social position of museums at that time. Were these institutions generally aligned with conservative or progressive politics? What kinds of art did the Museum Boijmans collect, and what do its holdings tell us about the institution’s values? By considering this object as a product of its time, we can better understand the complex cultural and economic forces that shaped its creation and reception.