Anthon van Rappard is one of the painters who in the 1880s in the rapidly industrializing The Netherlands dedicated themselves to painting craftsman. Weavers, spinners, carders, but also old or poor people were depicted in their familiar surroundings in a very impressionistic style. He lived in Utrecht, but regularly traveled to rural Drenthe in the summer. He also worked a lot in Brabant, together with his friend Vincent van Gogh, whom he had met during his study in Brussels (1881).