Een Visvrouw in Een Boot Dompelt Twee Viskorven Onder Water 1634

Hendrick Avercamp sketched "A Fishwife in a Boat Submerging Two Fish Baskets" using pen and brown ink, offering us a glimpse into the lives of working-class women in the 17th-century Netherlands. Avercamp, known for his winter scenes, often included ordinary people in his art. Here, the fishwife, likely a common sight in Dutch waterways, becomes the focal point. Her labor, a traditionally female role, highlights the gendered division of work. The sketch captures the immediacy and physicality of her task. Avercamp does not necessarily glorify the toil, but neither does he shy away from depicting the everyday realities faced by women supporting themselves through the fishing trade. The simplicity of the drawing underscores the directness and necessity of her work, challenging conventional representations of women from this time period. This humble sketch, therefore, becomes a poignant document of a life lived close to the water, laboring for survival, and quietly resisting the more typical narratives of women at the time.