Portret van een jonge vrouw, van voren c. 1830 - 1903

Editor: This is a portrait of a young woman by Jan Cornelis van Rossum, made sometime between 1830 and 1903. It’s a pencil drawing, quite delicate. What catches your eye about this work? Curator: Immediately, I think about the materiality. Look at the artist’s choice of pencil. Its accessibility points towards shifting notions of art making. No longer confined to oil paints and the elite, here’s art made with an easily obtained, almost democratic material. Editor: Democratic? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the rise of industrial pencil production in the 19th century, and the new economies of making. Before this, the pigments had to be made by hand, limiting access to color. This changed artistic practices, allowing for wider participation and experimentation. Does the sketch-like quality give you the impression that this was a study for something else? Or is the medium itself a choice? Editor: It feels deliberate. It doesn't scream 'finished product', but maybe that's the point. Are you saying the choice of pencil elevates a humble material? Curator: Precisely. It challenges traditional boundaries of high art. The "academic-art" style blends surprisingly well with an everyday tool, democratizing both the artistic process and potentially the subject of the portrait. This portrait offers a glimpse into both the means and social possibilities of artistic production in its time. Editor: That's fascinating, I never considered how much the pencil itself could communicate. I'm definitely looking at the portrait in a new light. Curator: Exploring the production and dissemination is key in order to go beyond mere style.