Zelfportret 1930

Curator: This is Dick Ket’s “Self-Portrait” from 1930, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It's a striking woodcut print. Editor: Striking is the word! The stark black and white and distorted features create this almost sinister mood. What is he trying to convey here? Curator: Ket’s use of woodcut is really important here. The sharp, angular lines and the strong contrast emphasize a certain raw honesty. Note the very deliberate chiseling to create light and shadow. There's such textural depth that it accentuates the emotionality of the piece. Editor: Absolutely, it reflects, in my view, the broader climate of that period. It's easy to see how the post-war disillusionment shaped an artist whose practice was driven by the social and medical complexities around chronic illness, which Ket suffered from. Curator: His illness definitely informed his oeuvre, yet this woodcut also presents this brilliant exercise in form and line, that the caricature is itself as relevant as its conceptual underpinnings. His rendering of himself with a cigarette is fascinating in this respect; his art creates meaning. Editor: I agree. His deliberate focus on illness disrupts the traditional art historical narrative of an artist depicting an ideal version of the self. In addition, cigarettes have many complex meanings and their artistic role touches on wealth and leisure, on working class roots and habits, or sometimes, as I see it here, the slow suicide of those on the fringes of society. Curator: And it also reflects Ket’s meticulous craft. Each deliberate incision carves meaning. I come back to that. Editor: Indeed, art exists in the intersection of craft and social context; what could be considered raw and unfinished to some, can signal deeper resonance to others. Thank you for helping me look again. Curator: Likewise, context is everything and looking for details is, indeed, half the fun.