Boot ter reparatie op een helling liggend 1801 - 1873

This is a pencil drawing of a boat under repair, created by Pieter George Westenberg. The grey paper serves as a blank space for the ship; the artist uses the barest economy of line to indicate the form. The image shows a wooden boat propped up on supports, undergoing maintenance. The texture and structure of the boat is clearly rendered with attention to detail. The real subject of this drawing is labor. Here, the boat is presented not in its full glory at sea, but at rest, requiring human intervention to be made seaworthy once again. The drawing invites us to contemplate the unseen work that goes into maritime life. It is about the skilled tradition required to fix the ship that braves the seas. This is an aesthetic that values the everyday and the working class. In doing so, it elevates the status of craft, reminding us that every object, however humble, has a history of making behind it.