Porträt eines Mannes mit französischem Bonnet de police 

Curator: This is a captivating drawing housed here at the Städel Museum, titled "Porträt eines Mannes mit französischem Bonnet de police," or "Portrait of a Man with a French Police Bonnet" in English, attributed to Karl Sandhaas. Editor: My first thought? Intense. There's something incredibly direct in that gaze. Also, a little… pinched, maybe? It's as if he's suppressing a chuckle, or perhaps deeply disapproving of something just out of frame. Curator: I think the “Bonnet de police” itself gives us clues about the sitter's social and political leanings during the early 19th century. Bonnets like this were worn by revolutionary supporters in France. Sandhaas made quite a few portraits of citizens during times of social upheaval, capturing the shifting tides of thought, especially during Napoleon's occupation. Editor: The almost caricature-like quality hints at that upheaval, doesn't it? The oversized hat, the subtle exaggeration of the features… It feels like more than just a straightforward portrait; there's a commentary, a wry observation, happening here on paper using pen and ink. I almost sense his ambivalence. Curator: Exactly. Sandhaas wasn’t merely documenting appearances. He seemed driven to explore what underpinned those visages. Notice the loose pencil sketch giving life to a person's complex essence with minimal detail, making visible an intricate relationship between the public and the private. He sees what's unsaid, sketching the cultural tensions in that silence. Editor: It does give the feeling of witnessing a moment suspended in time. How does that make you feel as a curator of Sandhaas' legacy? Curator: I think there’s a beautiful kind of courage to that; the boldness of expressing something so quietly profound during those tempestuous decades, creating art with Indian ink, pencil, and paper; seeing history written upon a face in simple yet insightful drawings. Editor: Beautifully put! For me, the image remains with me due to that strange but familiar tension of historical turbulence, with someone on the cusp of laughter or tears; It's nice we can all carry a piece of history outside into the present, like this.