Portret van August Snieders 1842 - 1887

Curator: Before us, we have a portrait of August Snieders rendered sometime between 1842 and 1887 by Carel Christiaan Antony Last, using graphite and pencil. Editor: He looks like he knows something I don't… sort of playfully secretive. I feel like I’ve just walked into the middle of his story, like he's about to get up and saunter away. It's got such immediacy. Curator: The success of that effect lies significantly in the artist's manipulation of line. Consider how the hatching and cross-hatching articulate volume, particularly in the face and clothing. We have an interesting tension between the detailed rendering and the sketch-like quality overall. Editor: Right? I’m noticing that now. It's like the artist couldn't decide between precision and pure feeling. Look at his hands. They're kind of softly smudged compared to the intensity of his gaze, his eyes are so alive behind those glasses! Curator: The artist demonstrates acute observational skill, evident in the subtle gradations of tone achieved with simple pencil strokes. Semiotically, we can also note how the subject’s attire and pose convey respectability and bourgeois identity. Editor: Or…maybe he just liked that jacket! Seriously though, those details add weight. I imagine this wasn’t just a doodle, but something important to both artist and subject. This really does speak to the tradition of formal portraiture, in this accessible, drawing style. Curator: Indeed, the relatively quick medium offers a degree of intimacy lacking in more labored portrayals. What might be dismissed as underdrawing is the finished product. Editor: Which I find endlessly cool! It's that “perfectly imperfect” thing. He almost seems caught mid-thought. Well, it makes me feel a kinship, in a way, to Snieders and maybe even the artist. It bridges that time gap! Curator: Well said. Last’s work allows us to contemplate the inherent expressiveness latent in even the most seemingly basic materials. Editor: Agreed. It reminds me that sometimes, the simplest strokes can say the most.