Portret van Emma, koningin-regentes der Nederlanden 1933

This portrait of Emma, Queen Regent of the Netherlands, was made with pastels and crayon, though we don’t know by whom. It’s a pretty formal affair, but there’s something tentative about the mark-making. I think there’s a real sensitivity in the application of color, especially in the rendering of the face. It’s all very close-valued, with soft greys and muted browns, like looking at a faded photograph, but also tender. It’s as if the artist is reaching towards a likeness, not trying to capture it, but find it. Notice the way the background isn’t really ‘there’ at all, just a series of sketched pastel marks that only suggest the trappings of royal life. This reminds me of the portraits by Alice Neel, who was also interested in this reaching quality; the attempt to find the person behind the pose. In both artists’ works, you get the sense of a person trying to feel their way into the image, and through it, into the world.