Zittende, bebaarde man met hoed 1920

This etching of a seated, bearded man with a hat was made by Elise Kann in 1920. Kann was a Dutch artist whose oeuvre touches on themes of everyday life. In this image, we see a man who appears to be of a lower social class, due to his clothing and posture. He is seated, hunched over and looking down. The rough lines used to create the image add to this impression of poverty and perhaps even despair. It's interesting to consider this work in the context of the interwar period in Europe, which was marked by economic hardship and social unrest. Was Kann perhaps using this image to comment on the social conditions of her time? To explore these questions further, it would be interesting to research the social and economic history of the Netherlands in the 1920s and to compare Kann's work with that of other artists who were addressing similar themes.