Portret van een vrouw 1913

This portrait of a woman, made by Arie M.A. Susan & Co, has this faded warmth about it. It’s a small picture, and it must have been such a careful act to make it. I wonder what the sitter was thinking? I mean, you try and look normal for the camera but your thoughts are all over the place. Was she someone’s mother, daughter, sister, wife? Did she even want to sit for this portrait? The dark dress is almost luminous against the creamy background. The ornate pendant and brooch offer a little gleam. This portrait reminds me of the work of Alice Neel, in that it conveys the humanity of the sitter, while simultaneously revealing that she is also a construction. We can read a lot into a face, but sometimes a face is just a face. That is up to us. And up to the artist. And up to time itself.