Portret van een man 1858

This is James Hazard's "Portret van een man," an etching of modest dimensions housed in the Rijksmuseum. Immediately, the etching's structure evokes a sense of classical portraiture, yet destabilized by its execution. Hazard employs a network of fine lines, a semiotic system in itself, to create form and shadow. The subject's gaze is direct, engaging us, yet the textured background, achieved through hatching, creates a sense of unease, disrupting the calm typical of such portraits. The semiotic codes inherent in the subject's attire, suggestive of status, are undermined by the rough quality of the etching. It does not conform to the polished aesthetic one might expect. The composition is relatively simple, focusing on the sitter, but the lines are raw, challenging fixed notions of beauty and representation. Through this deliberate formal choice, Hazard engages with broader philosophical concerns about the nature of identity and appearance.