Staande man met takkenbos op de schouder 1809 - 1869

Alexander Cranendoncq made this drawing of a standing man with a bundle of sticks on his shoulder sometime in the first half of the 19th century. This image of near-nudity calls to mind the academic tradition, which emerged in the 17th century and consolidated itself in Europe through academies of art. In these institutions, students would train by drawing after antique sculptures and nude models, learning the skills of accurate anatomical representation. But here, the figure also has a rural quality: his bare feet, his unidealized features, and the bundle of sticks that he carries. Is Cranendoncq trying to ennoble the rural worker through the academic style? The drawing comes from a period when the art academy was still the dominant means of artistic training, but new artistic movements were beginning to challenge the academy’s hold on the art world. It’s telling that this drawing now resides in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, today a major national institution for the arts in the Netherlands. The meaning of works like this lies in understanding the complex institutions and social forces that conditioned their creation. We can learn more by exploring archives of art academies and museums.