Drie mannen en een vrouw, ten voeten uit 1840

Johannes Tavenraat made this pencil drawing of three men and a woman, ten voeten uit, in the Netherlands sometime in the 19th century. These figures, quickly sketched on a page of Tavenraat’s sketchbook, are visual notes of a social class on the rise. The clothing of the figures tells us something about the social life of the artist and his ambitions, but what exactly? We might look at fashion plates from the period, which were developing into sophisticated ways of dictating taste and class distinctions. We can also see how the fashions spread through society by looking at the development of department stores and the mass manufacture of clothing. These were visible signs of the increasing prominence of the bourgeoisie in Dutch society, as the Netherlands underwent rapid industrialization and urbanization. Understanding the social meaning of an artwork like this requires a deep dive into the culture of its time.