Schetsboek met 27 bladen 1877 - 1880

This sketchbook was made by Jac van Looij, likely during his working life between 1855 and 1930. It's a humble object: paper bound in a dark cover, made to be carried around. Sketchbooks invite us to consider an artist’s process. What ideas did they jot down, what experiments did they try, what passages did they return to? The materiality of the book itself also speaks volumes. The mass production of paper and binding made such portable volumes widely available, enabling artists to record their fleeting thoughts and observations. Van Looij’s sketchbook reflects a modern tension: the industrial means of its making contrasts with the handmade marks it was created to receive. The book’s modest form suggests the democratization of art making, giving more people access to the tools of creation. So, when you look at this object, consider it not just as a container for art, but as a reflection of the changing social and economic landscape in which art is made.