Moeder en twee kinderen bij een schouw 1854 - 1914

Albert Neuhuys made this drawing, ‘Mother and two children by a chimney-piece’, using graphite on paper. The very qualities of the medium are vital here. The blurry, unfinished quality of the sketch gives it an immediacy that a more polished rendering would lack. It captures a sense of the everyday, not a posed or idealized image. You can almost feel the softness of the graphite as it moved across the page, catching the light. The image shows a domestic interior, with a mother and two children sitting by a fireplace. Notice how the artist has used shading to create a sense of depth and volume. The lines are quick and economical, but they convey a great deal of information about the figures and their surroundings. The paper support gives the artwork its material presence, and provides a surface to display the creative decision-making. The drawing reminds us that the making process is just as important as the final product. It is in the act of creating that the artist truly connects with their subject.