Kop van een man met een hoed 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh created this sketch, "Head of a Man with a Hat," with graphite on paper. It’s now held at the Rijksmuseum. The sketch gives us a glimpse into the cultural milieu of the Netherlands in the early 20th century. The man's hat, though lightly sketched, marks him as a member of the bourgeoisie. Vreedenburgh was working at a time when traditional artistic academies were being challenged by more progressive movements. We might ask: is this sketch an exercise in academic skill, or is it something more subversive? To interpret Vreedenburgh’s sketch, we might look to archival sources from Dutch art institutions, social histories of class and dress, and critical analyses of the artist’s contemporaries. By understanding these contexts, we see how a seemingly simple sketch participates in broader conversations about social identity, artistic skill, and the institutions that shape artistic production.