Portræt af Alma Bloch 1882

Curator: Here we have Carl Bloch’s “Portræt af Alma Bloch,” created in 1882. It’s an etching, currently held at the SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: Alma seems…contained. Look at how tightly she clasps her hands, and the subtle pursing of her lips. It almost gives the impression of someone holding their breath. It’s a small work, isn't it? Curator: Yes, its dimensions are relatively modest. Notice how Bloch masterfully uses line and texture in the etching. The density of cross-hatching defines volume, while leaving much of the space deliberately sparse focuses our gaze upon Alma's expression. Her features are finely rendered, adhering to principles of academic art while incorporating realistic touches in the way her clothing drapes and folds. Editor: I see a world of conflicting emotions behind her eyes. This isn’t just a neutral representation, is it? I wonder what occupied her mind that day; whether melancholy or perhaps an underlying tension she subtly expressed. Her buttoned blouse and high neckline almost feel like armoring herself, maybe? The ornate brooch is an intriguing counterpoint; an almost deliberate statement of status and confidence clashing with an overall sense of withdrawal. Curator: A fascinating reading. From a more detached viewpoint, the limited palette allows a full appreciation of tonal range. The bright area behind her head brings her forward in the picture plane while the shading accentuates her cheekbones and the set of her jaw. Her hands appear vulnerable because they lack this strong definition; thus her strength seems to rest squarely upon her character, and her face. Editor: It is intimate without being overtly sentimental. And so, the beauty of this particular piece lives less within artistic flamboyance, but in the very honest simplicity in depicting, and perhaps capturing a fleeting emotion or state of being, no? Curator: Precisely, that controlled execution speaks volumes to the values that dominated art making during Bloch's era. It sought a kind of objective truth over expressive exuberance. Editor: An objective truth infused, inevitably, with subjective experience. In art, there’s perhaps never any escaping that duality, or the beautiful complexity it brings forth.