Zelfportret van Ferdinand Oldewelt 1867 - 1923

Curator: We’re looking at a self-portrait by Ferdinand Oldewelt. Created between 1867 and 1923, this drawing uses pencil to capture the artist's likeness. Editor: Well, hello there, old sport! My first impression is one of gentle introspection, don't you think? He's caught in a moment of quiet thought, almost melancholic. The shading is doing something beautiful here, giving him weight without feeling heavy-handed. Curator: Indeed. The cross-hatching, especially around the face and hat, suggests a deliberate process. It builds volume but also creates a network of lines that emphasize the surface of the drawing itself. Editor: I find the lack of a strong outline compelling. It makes him feel accessible. As though we’ve caught him thinking aloud on paper, nothing finalized, just searching. Also, that hat! What do you make of that choice? Is it hiding, revealing, deflecting? Curator: Perhaps. One might interpret the hat as a visual signifier of social status, a deliberate insertion of the artist within a specific societal framework. Also, notice how his gaze avoids direct contact. It implicates him within, almost as if he were both the observed and the observer. Editor: Love that—observed and observer, so true. I also wonder if the unfinished quality reflects something deeper. Did he get bored with himself halfway through? Maybe it captures his ambivalence about being seen. Aren’t we all just works in progress, constantly being revised and reimagined? Curator: Such considerations fall outside the purview of a purely formal assessment, of course, but those lines can certainly encourage that view, and Oldewelt seems intent on emphasizing this ambiguity through line, composition, and light. Editor: Right! Well, whether deliberate or just a charming accident, Oldewelt has created something that lingers in the mind long after the gaze has shifted. It's almost like a half-remembered dream. Curator: It does underscore the subjective nature of artistic representation—a poignant reminder that every self-portrait is inevitably a construction. Editor: I feel more acquainted with Oldewelt now than when we began. Thanks to his lines and his shadow, or maybe thanks to how that hat hangs low and dark, I sense a story sketched out that makes me want to draw more.