Zittend kind met een nap c. 1885

Willem Witsen created this etching of a seated child with a bowl in the Netherlands. At the end of the 19th century, artists increasingly turned their attention to the everyday lives of ordinary people. Witsen belonged to a group of Dutch artists known as the Amsterdam Impressionists, who, influenced by French artists like Degas and Manet, captured fleeting moments and scenes from modern life. Notice how the child's features are softly rendered through a network of finely etched lines, creating a sense of intimacy. But who was this child? Was she a member of Witsen's family, or perhaps a child from the streets of Amsterdam? While the work seems to be an honest portrait of the everyday, it is difficult to know exactly what to make of it. To learn more, we might consult exhibition catalogs, letters, and other archival documents that could shed light on Witsen's artistic practice and the social context in which this print was made.