Moeder die een maaltijd serveert aan twee kinderen 1854 - 1914

Albert Neuhuys made this drawing of a mother serving a meal to two children using graphite on paper. The softness of the graphite allows the artist to render the quiet, domestic scene with a gentle, hazy quality. The strokes and smudges across the page weren't made by accident, but they were made by the artist through applying pressure to the medium. The soft, grey tones and blurred lines create a sense of intimacy, drawing us into the family's private world. You might say that the artist's hand has imbued the drawing with a social and cultural significance, in that the mother figure symbolizes the nurturing care of a family home, the heart of labour. This drawing is a reminder that the materials and processes of art-making are never neutral. They always carry with them a history of labor, skill, and cultural meaning.