Portret van een man met snor, baard en vlinderstrik 1895 - 1920

This small portrait of a man with a moustache, beard, and bow tie was made by Gustaf Lesser, but we don’t know exactly when or where. What strikes me is the way the image is framed, literally. The man is contained within a faux-architectural border, a stage set for his serious gaze. Look closely and you’ll see the subtle gradations of tone, the way the light catches the curve of his cheek or the texture of his suit. It’s like Lesser is saying, ‘Here is a man, presented for your consideration.’ It reminds me of those early photographic portraits by Nadar, where the sitter is both present and absent, captured in a moment yet somehow timeless. The neutrality of the backdrop puts all the emphasis on the individual, forcing us to confront the mystery of another person’s inner life. It’s this tension between representation and reality that keeps me coming back to these old portraits. They’re like little windows into another world, or maybe mirrors reflecting our own humanity back at us.