Skomagerfamilien drager ad Strandvejen paa Skovtur 1810 - 1873

This is Wilhelm Marstrand’s sketch, "The Shoemaker's Family on an Outing on the Beach Road." Though undated, we can place the work within the social context of 19th-century Denmark. Marstrand, a product of the Danish Golden Age, often depicted scenes of everyday life with a touch of humor. In this sketch, we see a working-class family on an outing, perhaps a rare moment of leisure. The father, likely the shoemaker, pulls a cart filled with children while the mother walks beside him. There's a sense of aspiration here. They are on the "Beach Road," a route that would have connected them to a life that may have seemed out of reach. The work evokes questions about class, labor, and the pursuit of happiness. What does it mean for a family to seek leisure when their daily lives are likely filled with hard work and economic uncertainty? Here, we see the emotional and personal dimensions of class identity, visualized through Marstrand's keen observation.