Portret van Armand Gensonné 1848 - 1911

Curator: Here we have Alphonse Farcy's "Portret van Armand Gensonn\u00e9", a drawing that sources tell us dates to sometime between 1848 and 1911. It's rendered in ink. What are your first thoughts? Editor: Ooh, the powdered wig gives him such a delicate, almost ephemeral look. He looks like he might start reciting poetry or... lecturing me on Enlightenment values. Curator: Exactly! This is clearly meant to evoke a sense of the intellectual elite, and likely positions the sitter within the prevailing neo-classical artistic and political mindset. What is really interesting here, of course, is thinking about what the implications of that aesthetic identification might have been in a drawing done in the latter half of the 19th century. Editor: Well, for one thing, it kind of says, "Hey, I'm clinging to the past!". Which, depending on the past we’re talking about, could mean everything from traditionalism to a wistful, if somewhat clueless, longing for simpler times, though that hair also means a LOT of maintenance... So perhaps he wasn't living quite that simple of a life. Curator: I think the tension here is important: Alphonse Farcy, the artist, working between 1848 and 1911. What political winds do you imagine are gusting, or threatening to blow? What elements of his drawing strike you as most modern? Editor: The details in his clothing. It seems that despite the idealization, Farcy hasn't totally shied away from depicting his subject as he was, double chin and all. He doesn’t appear conventionally beautiful but that's what makes it engaging. He looks REAL. Curator: I agree. There’s something very telling about this embrace of realism in a classical medium. I think it suggests the subject had to embrace progress while, at the same time, maintaining a close relationship with a complicated political and aesthetic history. Editor: Yes, maybe he’s saying it's alright to move ahead as long as you don’t forget what’s behind you? Now, as a Neoclassical work this may be completely coincidental, but still an interesting lens through which to consider this piece... I just want to tousle his wig and ask what his pronouns are. Curator: Well, I'm struck now thinking how artworks function as artifacts of these very specific, and conflicted, historical and political circumstances. The piece feels much richer to me, considered from this angle. Editor: Indeed. I'm left wondering now just what kind of person Armand Gensonn\u00e9 actually was. This piece certainly stirs up more questions than it answers!