Portret van Johann Heinrich Lubeck 1836 - 1911

Willem Steelink made this print of Johann Heinrich Lubeck sometime in the 19th century. The Dutch cultural elite are well represented in the institutions of art, but this image is not a painting destined for a museum. It is a reproductive print, designed for circulation. In a society without photography, printed portraits such as this one helped to build and reinforce social status. Lubeck’s suit, bow tie, and neatly combed hair present him as a figure of bourgeois respectability, while the subtle hatching marks of the printmaking technique give the image an air of serious dignity. Prints such as this one were often commissioned for a specific purpose, perhaps to celebrate an achievement, to mark a rite of passage, or simply to signal that the sitter had joined the ranks of respectable society. They could be included in books or journals, or framed and hung in the home. Historians consult archives, newspapers, and printed ephemera to understand the role that images like this one played in the culture of their time.