Zelfportret van Willem George Frederik Heijmans 1825 - 1868

This self-portrait was made by Willem George Frederik Heijmans in the 19th century using graphite and charcoal. It shows a man in what we might call fancy dress, with a soft cap and a tartan shawl. This, in the Netherlands, would have coded him as someone with an interest in Romanticism, a cultural movement that prized emotion and instinct, and valued the cultures on the margins of modern, industrial society. It's worth noting that the Netherlands in the first half of the 1800s was undergoing significant change, including a period of French rule followed by the establishment of a new kingdom. Artists and intellectuals were grappling with questions of national identity and cultural heritage. Heijmans' choice to portray himself in attire that evokes a sense of historical or cultural otherness could be seen as a comment on these discussions, or perhaps as a personal statement about his artistic values. The interpretation of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context, and historical research provides valuable resources for understanding that context more fully.