Profile of a Man with Sidewhiskers c. 1850

This is an undated drawing, twelve by eight and a half inches, titled "Profile of a Man with Sidewhiskers" by an anonymous artist. The browned paper gives the work a sense of age, even as the image is a close, careful observation of a man with distinctive facial hair, caught in profile. Portraits are revealing: a depiction of an individual that has everything to do with how they saw themselves, how the artist saw them, and the values of the time. Facial hair in particular has a lot to say about how the sitter wishes to present himself to the world, but here we have an anonymous artist and sitter, so much of our interpretation is left to our own imagination. Although the artist and sitter are anonymous, this portrait opens a door to a conversation about how we perceive and represent each other. It quietly asks us to consider the stories and identities we see—or don't see—reflected in historical images.