Man met hoed 1854 - 1882

Curator: Let's spend a few moments with Emile Sacré's "Man met hoed," or "Man with Hat," created between 1854 and 1882. It's an etching, a delicate example of printmaking housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: The man looks…troubled. Like he's about to argue about the price of something. Or maybe I'm just projecting my own anxiety about navigating Amsterdam's canals on a bicycle. Curator: Consider the labor involved in producing an etching like this. Sacré would have meticulously etched the image into a metal plate, then used ink and pressure to transfer the design onto paper. This printmaking process allowed for wider distribution and accessibility. Editor: Right, it’s not some grand, one-of-a-kind oil painting destined for a wealthy patron's drawing room. It's more…democratic? He looks like a fisherman, perhaps? The way he clutches that soft felt hat could indicate a sense of...precarity? Curator: Perhaps. Notice how Sacré uses the etching technique to suggest texture in the man's hair and beard, and in the soft draping of his coat. Etching creates areas of dense lines as well as fine lines that help build the volume of this rather ordinary man’s form. This was no doubt an important commission, one designed for general public consumption through reproductions. Editor: So it's not trying to hide the fact that it’s "made," but the subject might have cared about appearing noble. I bet he commissioned several so his relatives could remember him fondly. Curator: A fine suggestion indeed, because this print is part of an ever-widening network of representations that shape social status and consumption habits of 19th-century men. Think about the material implications: the ink, the paper, the specialized labor, each connecting to broader industries and markets. Editor: Makes you think about where art meets the world of goods, huh? Gives a fresh feeling of history behind what seems simple at first. The little details say so much!