Portret van Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint 1842 - 1887

Editor: Here we have a graphite drawing from sometime between 1842 and 1887 by Adrianus Johannes Ehnle. It's a portrait of Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, and there's almost a sense of quiet reserve in her expression. I'm curious, what stands out to you about this piece? Curator: Well, given that it's a portrait of a well-known Dutch novelist, I immediately think about the role of artistic patronage and how this image circulates within literary and artistic circles. These portraits weren't just innocent depictions; they reinforced the subject’s status and public image. Who was commissioning these portraits, and what messages were they intending to convey? Editor: That's a good point. It seems less about capturing her "true" likeness and more about creating a certain perception. Curator: Exactly. The Rijksmuseum's choice to display it now also says something about its institutional value. What aspects of Dutch cultural heritage are we choosing to highlight and why? Were her novels controversial in any way? Knowing that would influence how we interpret the reception of the portrait itself. Editor: I didn’t realize a simple drawing could hold so much weight! I guess everything we see in a museum is the result of conscious decisions and reflects a particular point of view. Curator: Precisely. It makes you wonder about all the other stories embedded in the visual culture of the past, doesn’t it? I am always happy to contextualize them for viewers.