Reproductie naar een foto van Willem Witsen c. 1860 - 1915

Curator: Welcome. We are looking at “Reproductie naar een foto van Willem Witsen”, a gelatin silver print from somewhere between 1860 and 1915, now housed here at the Rijksmuseum. What strikes you most about it? Editor: An elegant melancholy. I see faces caught in time, a silent story etched in monochrome. It feels less like a family portrait and more like a tableau vivant from a long-forgotten play. Curator: It's intriguing you mention "tableau vivant." This print speaks to the Victorian era's interest in capturing genre scenes with the emergent technology of photography. The aesthetic sensibilities definitely pull from painting traditions. Editor: Absolutely. It’s trying to be high art, isn't it? Look at the posing, the deliberate arrangement, even the soft focus; it all contributes to this almost painterly feel. And I can't help but feel there's an underlying tension here, not quite happiness. Curator: Precisely. Pictorialism, which this reflects, intentionally blurred the lines between photography and painting. And, thinking about it sociologically, group portraits were statements of societal position and aspirations during this time. Who was included, and how they presented themselves, was all carefully constructed. Editor: You're right. There's this strange blend of formality and awkwardness. Everyone looks so posed, almost stiff, yet there’s a real vulnerability in their expressions, particularly the woman’s eyes. She doesn’t look thrilled to be standing there! Curator: And, knowing the timeframe, we must also consider the public role of art then. Family imagery reinforced social stability in an era of immense social and political change. Consider this family as actively choosing how history would view them. Editor: It makes you wonder what was happening just outside the frame, doesn’t it? What anxieties, hopes, or secrets are they carrying? It really makes you appreciate the artifice inherent in photography, how carefully curated these seemingly “real” moments often were. Even the reproduction aspect layers another level of interpretation. Curator: Indeed, it’s this constant interplay between what's revealed and concealed that makes this print such a captivating cultural artifact. Thank you for helping uncover a small piece of its mystery today. Editor: My pleasure! It is a window to another world. A bit like gazing at distant stars and trying to imagine the lives flickering on planets light-years away.