Paardenkop 1803 - 1846

Paulus Charles Gerard Poelman made this tiny etching of a horse’s head, or ‘Paardenkop’ in the original Dutch, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. This image speaks to the important role of animals within European social life. Horses had long been associated with wealth and status, and the careful rendering of this animal’s features – its braided mane, its powerful neck – signals a degree of respect. At the time, the Netherlands was a constitutional monarchy experiencing rapid economic growth, and art of this period tended to reflect the values of the rising middle class. An image like this would not challenge any social conventions but, by studying the artist’s notebooks, the journals of local riding schools, and even the economic data for horse trading in the Netherlands during this period, we can understand the social conditions that gave rise to such work. After all, art doesn’t exist in a vacuum.