Jongen met mand 1869 - 1938

Johannes Abraham Mondt created this etching of a boy with a basket, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The image is rendered with an emphasis on the boy's labor and the setting is an urban environment. Although the boy is an individual, the image is about the social context of labor in the Netherlands at the time. The image is not intended as a sympathetic portrait of the working class, but rather an image of the everyday reality of laboring people. We might consider the function of images like this in constructing ideas about social class at a time of great social change. Historical research, including consulting archives, newspapers and census data, helps to clarify the social meaning of the art of the time. Art history is more than just the study of objects; it’s an understanding of culture.