Portret van Han van der Kop en zijn echtgenote 1933

This portrait of Han van der Kop and his wife, now hanging in the Rijksmuseum, was made by an anonymous artist. I imagine that this artist worked carefully applying thin layers of paint to build up the likenesses of the couple. What might the artist have been thinking as they captured their sitters? Notice how the artist played with light, creating a soft, dreamy effect. The dark background makes the figures seem to emerge from the shadows. The woman's eyes are particularly striking, drawing us into her gaze. It reminds me a little bit of some early modernist portraits. What I love about painting is its ability to capture not just what something looks like, but how it feels. It’s like a conversation between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers, all happening across time.