Portret van Fernand et Robert Vandewalle 1901 - 1909

J. Van Crewel Jeune made this small portrait in Anvers. It depicts two children standing close together. I wonder what it was like to be Crewel at that moment? What was he thinking? And what about the parents? I feel like Crewel has done this many times before. He probably knew just how to pose the children to get a 'likeness' and capture their features, and their innocence, for posterity. Isn’t that a strange and heavy burden? When you look at this kind of work, you can't help but think about how so many artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time. Each artist offers another way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.