Portret van Emmanuel Fournier before 1887

Editor: So, this is a portrait of Emmanuel Fournier, printed on paper sometime before 1887. It looks like a page torn from a book or journal. The faded paper gives it such a delicate and historical feel. What do you see in this piece, focusing perhaps on its materiality? Curator: I see a carefully crafted object whose value resides as much in its production as its subject. Look at the texture of the paper, the chosen font. The materiality suggests mass production, intended for wide distribution, and thus, consumption. The very choice of portrait within a printed book underscores how status can be manufactured through relatively inexpensive means. Does the medium challenge our ideas of portraiture, making it less exclusive and more accessible? Editor: That’s interesting – the idea of manufactured status. The printing seems almost deliberately aged. Was this a common style at the time, or was it an artistic choice to emulate an older aesthetic? Curator: Considering the industrialization of printing at this time, the ‘aged’ aesthetic likely serves as a signifier. Perhaps the publisher used the aesthetic to signal heritage or tradition as a counterpoint to modern means of production. Consider the societal context: What anxieties about industrial production were being assuaged through the visual language of "handmade" objects and designs? Editor: That's a really insightful way to look at it. I never thought about how the material and the means of production could be part of the message. Thanks, this gives me so much to think about regarding art and the process of its creation. Curator: Likewise, it's valuable to reconsider assumptions about artistic intention and how they intersect with economic realities.