Luise Scholderer im Rüschenkleid 

Otto Scholderer made this pencil drawing of Luise Scholderer, wearing a dress with frills, sometime in the 19th century. The light sketch gives the impression of a work in progress. It's a study of the artist's wife, presumably made in their home. As such, it can offer us insight into the cultural norms around marriage in the 1800s, especially among the middle classes. We see Luise portrayed in a domestic light. The relative informality of the sketch, compared to a finished painting, suggests a degree of intimacy between the artist and his subject. Scholderer was a German painter associated with the Realist movement, which rejected Romanticism's emphasis on emotion, and sought to portray life as it truly was. This work could be considered within that context. It shows an interest in the everyday, capturing the likeness of the artist's wife in a simple, unadorned manner. To better understand this sketch, archival material such as letters and family records would reveal more about the Scholderers and their place in society. In this way, we can appreciate art as something that is contingent on social and institutional context.