Portret van een Soendanese man c. 1921

Willem Witsen made this portrait of a Sundanese man at an unknown date, using etching. Look at how this image emerges! It feels as though Witsen is building up the image, revealing a face from within. There's a delicacy to the marks, the whole image almost shimmering, the face carved out with these fine strokes. I bet it took him a while to get to that look of concentration. And those earthy, red-brown hues surrounding the silver drawing of the man make me think of Rembrandt's palette. It is as if Witsen is in conversation with the masters. It makes you wonder what their conversations might have been like, what they might have said to each other. It reminds me of a visual game of telephone, where each artist interprets and riffs off what came before. The man stares boldly, looking into the future! It feels like Witsen's etching is a link in the chain of creativity.