Kop van een kind 1890 - 1946

Curator: Here in the Rijksmuseum, we're looking at Cornelis Vreedenburgh's "Head of a Child", a pencil drawing likely created sometime between 1890 and 1946. What strikes you most about this seemingly simple sketch? Editor: It's all about the layering of the lines, isn’t it? The hatching gives a real sense of volume to what is otherwise such an ephemeral image, as though a solid form could materialize from just graphite on paper. I almost feel I can touch this kid’s head through that carefully built cross-hatching. Curator: Indeed. Consider the historical context of child portraiture at the time. There was a growing interest in childhood as a distinct phase of life. Vreedenburgh presents us not with a formal depiction, but an intimate and unassuming glimpse. Perhaps this child belonged to a family among his social circles or captured his interest due to the kid's unique way of being? Editor: That makes sense. From the technical side, note the contrast between the deeply shaded cap of the subject and the tentative, almost floating rendering of their face. It throws all the attention onto the implied personality—that slight upturn of the nose, or whatever you might discern there, becomes everything. Curator: Exactly, and that economy of means can be seen in relation to other drawings made at the time, prioritizing conveying emotion or presence rather than striving for photorealistic detail. Think also of the rising middle class eager for artworks representing themselves and their families in a way that departs from academic conventions. Editor: I love that reading. The very unfinished quality also prompts you to keep visually completing the picture, to keep looking, filling it in with one’s own associations and imaginings. A very effective technique to keep people looking, in my opinion. Curator: And perhaps reflecting on their own relationship to childhood, both in their own lives and society at large. It is this mirroring aspect that explains the sustained popular interest in Vreedenburgh's modest artwork. Editor: A fleeting observation captured with an intensity of focus. What at first appears simple turns out to have great substance.