Kop van een vrouw met een hoed c. 1873

Johannes Bosboom sketched "Head of a Woman with a Hat" with graphite. Bosboom lived during a period of significant social change in the Netherlands, including the rise of the middle class and evolving notions of domesticity and gender roles. With just a few lines, Bosboom suggests the woman's form, her face partially obscured, yet hinting at an inner world of thoughts and emotions. The hat, adorned with what appears to be flowers, frames her face, adding a layer of formality and perhaps an assertion of identity. During Bosboom's time, women's roles were often confined to the domestic sphere. Yet here, she is presented as an individual worthy of study, and in her attire perhaps indicates a degree of social standing and self-expression. Bosboom's sketch invites us to reflect on the silent narratives of women in art, their identities subtly revealed, and the societal frameworks that shaped their lives.