A woman leans forward, working a spinning wheel. This is Pieternella Verhoeven (known as Pietje) from the village of Dongen. She wears traditional clothing from the period in which the painting was made: a white cap, a brown jacket over her long dark skirt, and a dark blue apron. Pietje was a popular painter’s model, who was depicted by German painter Max Liebermann in 1880-1881. He also painted other villages as well as traditional crafts, his response to industrialisation. The farming population and the unique dune landscape attracted artists to Dongen in the 19th century. Time appeared to have stood still there, which is precisely what appealed to them.
Max Liebermann, Spinster of Dongen, 1880, painting, oil on panel | on loan from the Friends of Stedelijk Museum Breda