Portret van Louis Nicolas Vauquelin 1818 - 1832

Curator: Here we have a portrait of Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, an engraving dating between 1818 and 1832 by Charles Aimé Forestier. The print style is rather formal. Editor: It feels austere, doesn’t it? Very neat. The subject’s almost floating there in the middle of all that empty space, but the hatching work is pretty stunning. It looks delicate and almost hand-worked. Curator: Engravings were important means of circulating imagery at that time. Notice how this image, in its black and white reproduction, elevates Vauquelin. Consider his position; science and academia were gaining importance. This style visually cemented figures like him in the public imagination. Editor: Exactly! It also makes me consider the process, you know? Every line here was physically etched; it’s not like the fluid strokes of a brush. The controlled medium mirrors Vauquelin's field, likely chemistry, known for structure and calculated composition. And it was of course designed for print. A sort of serial production, in its way. Curator: Absolutely, and it's also connected to larger societal movements. Neoclassicism, which this embodies, consciously draws upon what it perceives to be the virtue and clarity of the past, promoting stability and order after periods of upheaval. There's a purpose behind that aesthetic. Editor: All these little tiny incisions in the plate had to amount to the promotion of public virtue and order, eh? Curator: Well, it played its part. This print is evidence of how an individual, through artistic processes, can be positioned in a carefully managed public role. Think of it as a historical headshot, meant to convey stature and respectability. Editor: Seeing how all of those laborious markings converge into an "image," it seems such a long process when weighed against contemporary means of image creation and transmission! All this, from simple material actions. I won’t soon dismiss engravings again! Curator: Me neither! Examining the social and material conditions behind it allows us a rich perspective that one might easily have missed!