Steen aan een waterkant c. 1863 - 1864

This is Maria Vos's pencil drawing, "Steen aan een waterkant," or "Stone on a Waterfront," now held at the Rijksmuseum. Vos was working in the mid-19th century, a time when women artists navigated a complex social landscape. Vos, like many women artists of her time, often focused on still life or landscape, genres considered appropriate for women due to the restrictive attitudes towards women's participation in other genres. In this sketch, Vos captures a quiet, natural scene, a stone resting by the water's edge. There is a softness in the marks that speaks to quiet observation and intimate experience of the natural world. It's interesting to consider how Vos's personal experience as a woman in a male-dominated art world might have influenced her choice of subject matter and style. "Steen aan een waterkant" serves as a reminder of the subtle ways in which gender and society intersect with artistic expression.