Quadrant: Four themes of Petrus van der Velden, 20 October 2006 – 25 March 2007

The woman portrayed in this study is one of the central figures in Van der Velden’s major painting from his Marken funeral series, The Dutch Funeral. It is thought she is the daughter of the drowned fisherman, and Van der Velden depicts her tentatively leaning forward, supporting the arm of her grief-stricken mother as the funeral procession follows the coffin. Van der Velden has worked rapidly with pencil in this sketch to record details of the figure. The woman’s forehead, eyes, lips and chin have been highlighted with delicate sepia washes to accentuate her features.