Portret van een jonge vrouw 1894 - 1920

This portrait of a young woman, by Anton Cornelis Thomann, sits within an album page and, like much of Thomann’s work, is about the details. The sepia tone gives it a feel of something remembered, and within the frame, everything is about the texture: the soft waves of her hair, the delicate gathers of her dress. Look how the light falls on the fabric and how it is captured in the image. The tones are muted, yet there is a quiet intensity to the piece. The longer you look, the more the details emerge: the subtle gradations of tone in her face, the way her dress is fastened. It reminds me of the work of Käthe Kollwitz, who also had an interest in capturing humanity with honesty and compassion. Neither shied away from the ambiguities of human expression, reminding us that art is a space for questions, not just answers.