Junger Mann mit Hut nach rechts 

Curator: What strikes me most about this drawing, "Junger Mann mit Hut nach rechts," located here at the Städel Museum, is its ephemeral quality. The chalk and charcoal lines feel light, almost as if they might dissipate if you breathe too close. Editor: I see what you mean, but to me it speaks more to the precarity of social standing at the time. A fine drawing like this declares the sitter's aspirational place in society through accessible yet refined materials, yet they are bound to crumble like the chalk it’s made of! Curator: Interesting perspective. It is quite a portrait. I notice how the artist, Etienne Fessard, has managed to convey the subject's features with incredible subtlety, all through a seemingly simple medium. You get a sense of this person, of their personality. Editor: Indeed! Fessard cleverly deployed the limited materials to signal a certain identity to wider audiences, relying on recognisable markers of status. What do we really know of this man apart from what is projected by those symbols? Curator: Well, we can observe how Fessard used different densities of chalk and charcoal to create highlights and shadows, which adds depth to the face. And consider the labor – each line painstakingly placed to create a coherent whole. Editor: Exactly, the labour, the consumption of precious resources… Portraiture during this period of expanding merchant classes and the growing bourgeois market becomes increasingly entwined with the notion of social display and control. It's no coincidence, is it? Curator: Perhaps. But there’s also an undeniable artistic skill at play. The loose handling of the hat contrasts beautifully with the more refined lines used to depict the face. He paid careful attention to the overall impression. Editor: Of course, that goes without saying, but to what end? I can't help thinking about who had access to such portraits, who displayed them, and how that reinforced existing power dynamics, even down to the cost of acquiring a supply of quality chalk for portraits like these. Curator: All points well taken. Thinking about "Junger Mann mit Hut nach rechts," I am left marveling at the power of art to evoke such strong feelings through the simplest of means, from a pile of earthly minerals combined to create compelling human depiction. Editor: Agreed. This work reveals how art functions within a nexus of cultural and economic forces.