Boot met een kajuit 1834 - 1903

This is a pencil drawing of a boat with a cabin, made by Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch. The drawing is a study, an intimate glimpse into the artist’s working method. It is not highly finished, but rather a quick sketch made in preparation for a larger work. Weissenbruch was part of the Hague School, a group of Dutch Realist painters active in the second half of the 19th century. They sought to capture the landscape and daily life of the Netherlands with a sober palette and a keen eye for natural light. The Hague School artists, like Weissenbruch, turned their backs on the grand historical narratives favored by the art academies, and instead focused on everyday scenes. They often worked ‘en plein air’ and, as such, they helped to transform the social function of art. To understand the place of this drawing, one would do well to look at the institutional history of art in the Netherlands and to consult archives of artist's sketchbooks and letters. Art is not created in a vacuum, and its meaning is always contingent on social and institutional context.