Stadsgezicht c. 1800 - 1900

Hein Vrolijk made this pencil drawing, titled "Stadsgezicht", or "Cityscape", to capture the feeling of a bustling urban center. Consider the buildings: they present a kind of architectural cross-section. On the left, we see the orderly rows of windows on a building of the laboring classes; in the center, the step-gabled roof of a wealthy merchant family; and in the background, the pointed spire of a church. Vrolijk gestures to a full spectrum of the social order. The marketplace also reflects this social order. The sketch offers a snapshot of Dutch society, likely in the early to mid-20th century. It encapsulates a moment of everyday life in a time when the Netherlands was navigating its identity between tradition and modernization. We can better understand this drawing by considering the history of Dutch urbanism and the role of public spaces. Research into local archives and social histories of the Netherlands will give us a greater appreciation of the world that Vrolijk captured.