Portret van een vrouw 1890 - 1920

This small portrait of a woman was made by H.C. de Graaff sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. The sepia tone makes me think about the past as a kind of process, like developing a photograph. The lighting in this picture is so interesting, it fades out towards the bottom. It’s almost as if she is emerging out of nothing, or fading back into it. I think about how the material aspects of the work – in this case the photographic process itself – shape our emotional experience of the artwork. The bow at her neck is the most detailed part, very precisely articulated. It holds her, anchors her in this ethereal space. This work reminds me a little of some of the early portraits by Gertrude Käsebier, in the way that the formal and the domestic collide. Art’s like an ongoing conversation, constantly echoing and revising itself. Ultimately, the power of this piece lies in its ambiguity. It invites us to bring our own stories, our own interpretations to it.