Portret van man met korte baard en muts 1876 - 1910

Alphonse Stengelin made this portrait of a man with a beard and cap using graphite on paper. Look closely, and you'll notice how the artist uses tightly packed hatching to create depth and shadow. The careful control of the pencil's pressure and direction creates the tonality, and evokes the textures of the man's beard, hat, and coat. This technique, requiring patience and precision, aligns Stengelin with a history of craft practices, as the value lies in the skillful execution and the artist’s labor. Think about the choice of graphite, a relatively common material, versus the elite connotations of oil paint. In this choice, Stengelin possibly conveys a sense of the sitter's everyday life. Graphite's inherent qualities of mark-making on paper, combined with the artist’s technique, give the work its unique character. By focusing on the materials and the making, we can begin to understand how this artwork challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.