Omslag voor zes zelfportretten van Jean Bernard after 1785

Curator: What an enigmatic little document. This is the cover for six self-portraits by Jean Bernard, dating from after 1785. It's pen and ink on paper. The paper is folded, as if protecting something precious...or fragile. Editor: Immediately, it strikes me as...raw. Look at the texture of that paper, almost coarse. And the ink, a very utilitarian tool. It screams of production, like an artisan's note or a craftsperson's record rather than fine art. Curator: But doesn't that raw quality lend it an immediacy, a kind of vulnerable intimacy? You can almost feel Bernard’s breath on the page as he penned this inscription, binding these little versions of himself together. A bit like thoughts trying to stay on a page. Editor: Yes, I see the connection... but also the contradiction. The formality of self-portraiture is interesting juxtaposed with what seems like ordinary stationary. Was this meant for the world? Was this a practice only seen later as "art"? What sort of "art-world" was available to Jean Bernard at that moment? Curator: Perhaps for Bernard, the "art-world" was more about personal exploration than public presentation. The roughness reminds me that the creation of self is inherently messy. He put so much trust into these six faces; the document has a gentle feel. Almost fatherly? Editor: Indeed! What's curious to me is what these material decisions meant, both socially and practically, to Bernard and his peers? Think of the cost of paper versus other potential surfaces... the decision to create multiple images of the self... these actions meant something concrete, in the context of making. Curator: Absolutely! I find the idea of him carefully folding this very personal work deeply resonant. It’s almost as if he is protecting those representations of self from harsh assessment. An interesting contradiction to consider. Editor: It leaves us with the tension of purpose: something made and recorded to what end and for whom? An interesting piece to unpack.