Portret van een onbekende soldaat in militair uniform 1914 - 1918

This is Bermote’s “Portret van een onbekende soldaat in militair uniform,” the date and materials of which are unknown. What strikes me first is the soft palette and the blending of colors, especially around the figure’s face. It’s not quite photorealism, but it's definitely playing with a sense of capturing a real person, a real moment. The portrait’s surface has a smooth, almost airbrushed quality. The details of the uniform—the buttons, the trim—are rendered with care, but there’s a dreamy, ethereal quality to the whole thing. It's like looking at a memory or a faded photograph. I'm drawn to the subtle shifts in tone in the background, the way the blues and whites merge. It reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter’s blurred portraits, where the act of painting seems to be about both revealing and obscuring. Ultimately, this piece asks us to consider the relationship between representation and reality, and to embrace the ambiguities inherent in both.