Portrait of Claus 28 - 1895

Louis Eysen drew this portrait of Claus in 1945. The drawing's realism, made with charcoal, depicts the man in a way that seeks to record what the artist saw before him, and perhaps even to reveal something of the sitter's inner character. The date is significant. Made in Germany at the close of the Second World War, the portrait connects to a broader history of humanist art, and asks what role art should play at a time of upheaval. We might ask how the image is self-consciously conservative or progressive given the time in which it was made. As historians, we can look to institutional records of the artist and exhibition histories of his work to better understand his place in the culture of his time. These resources help us better understand the meaning of the artwork, as it depends so much on its social and institutional context.