Portret van een heer met hoed Possibly 1860 - 1863

Curator: Here we have a piece titled "Portret van een heer met hoed", or "Portrait of a Gentleman with a Hat", tentatively dated between 1860 and 1863. It's an engraving attributed to Johannes Arnoldus Boland. Editor: Right. My first thought? "Serious." He's got this look, like he's judging my entire life choices. That hat’s massive! Very dramatic lighting, too, especially given the tight composition inside that oval. It reminds me of Rembrandt somehow, that sense of interiority. Curator: Indeed. Considering the social context, we can explore the symbolic power of dress in the 19th century and beyond. How does his attire mark him within a rigid, class-based system, and how does this representation uphold or subvert such hierarchies? That hat, you see, isn't just a fashion statement. Editor: You think he's stuffy or what? Nah, maybe he's just trying to figure out how to solve a puzzle. Seriously though, it is like a study of character isn't it, very considered – you want to fill in his inner dialogue for him. He seems like he’s withholding secrets... Curator: Absolutely, and that’s exactly where critical race and feminist theories might offer insights. Who has the privilege to be portrayed, to be remembered, to dictate history? Whose stories are erased through these forms of portraiture, you see? It is less a case of withheld secrets and more like institutional silence. Editor: Fair. But then maybe he's just shy. Maybe he hates having his portrait done. Or maybe he’s longing for something – it’s an ambiguous work after all. Curator: That ambiguity is also, itself, a construct. What frameworks are in place in both our era and the time in which this engraving was made that enable certain audiences to "decode" his potential longing? What, conversely, keeps certain bodies excluded? Editor: Food for thought. All this looking gets exhausting in the end – let's go for a coffee and continue... Curator: Yes, let’s— and ponder how, historically, coffee shops too have served as crucial locations for cultural and political discussions concerning the inequities found even within artistic portraiture such as this!