Portret van een onbekende man, mogelijk Colot 1893

Georges Montenez created this small portrait, "Portret van een onbekende man, mogelijk Colot" - Portrait of an unknown man, possibly Colot - with an unconfirmed date and medium. Montenez lived through a period of intense colonial expansion, when it was fashionable to collect people, and art, and objects from around the world. The portrait is labelled in French, with the word "japonais" - Japanese. It is of course possible that the sitter, Mr. Colot, was in fact Japanese, but it seems more likely that this drawing is inscribed with the fantasy of Japan, revealing more about European desire than about the sitter's identity. Ultimately, this work prompts us to consider how portraits can both reveal and conceal, shaping perceptions and perpetuating stereotypes across cultures.