De booze knapen, Frits en Frans 1828 - 1937

This untitled illustration of ‘De booze knapen, Frits en Frans,’ or ‘The wicked boys, Frits and Frans,’ was made in Germany by the printmakers Oehmigke and Riemschnieder. Looking at the image, you can see a sequence of frames illustrating the mischievous adventures of two boys, Frits and Frans. The visual style is reminiscent of early comic strips and points to the rise of mass media in the 19th century. These images, created at a time when literacy was increasing and printmaking technologies were improving, would have been distributed widely. They reflect a growing market for popular entertainment. We can look at the visual codes of the clothing to think about class and gender roles. What do the different domestic interiors suggest about social life at the time? Are these boys presented as simply mischievous, or as deviant? By researching Oehmigke and Riemschnieder and studying similar popular prints, we can start to understand the illustration’s cultural context.