Schetsen van een schouder en een heer met hoge hoed 1865 - 1930

Editor: So, this is "Sketches of a Shoulder and a Gentleman with a Top Hat" by Jac van Looij, made sometime between 1865 and 1930 using pencil. It feels very fleeting and observational, like a glimpse into the artist’s notebook. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Immediately, I'm drawn to the symbols of class and respectability. The top hat, of course, but even the drape of fabric suggests a certain weight, a formality. Do you feel the artist is making a comment on social structures? Editor: I hadn't really considered that. I was more focused on the loose style. Curator: But even that looseness can be read as a kind of commentary. The fleeting sketch denies permanence or monumentalization. Is he capturing a truth about the impermanence of these social symbols, these societal expectations? Think of how the meaning of a top hat has shifted over time, and what it means to us today, compared to what it signified back then. Editor: That’s a great point. The impermanence in the linework almost reflects the changing meaning of the top hat itself. Curator: Precisely. Consider how clothing often signifies not just status, but also aspiration. It's like a costume we wear to perform certain roles, to project a specific image to the world. Van Looij gives us an incomplete figure—a fleeting image, perhaps to emphasize the artificiality of it all? Editor: It does make me rethink how even casual sketches can hold layers of meaning about how we present ourselves. Curator: Visual culture can reveal a society’s deepest hopes and fears, don’t you think? This simple sketch captures that beautifully. Editor: Definitely given me something to think about beyond just the artistic style. Thanks!