Wilhelmina van Zijll de Jong in een lange jas bij een huis 1932 - 1936

Curator: Look at this portrait, "Wilhelmina van Zijll de Jong in a long coat by a house," taken sometime between 1932 and 1936. I wonder who snapped this photo. It's an intriguing glimpse into the past. Editor: There's a haunting serenity about it. She's standing against that brick wall, almost like a performance of middle-class stoicism. It seems… lonely. Curator: It does feel a bit like a stage set, doesn't it? The photographer uses light and shadow dramatically, highlighting Wilhelmina and making the ordinary wall seem almost ominous. Do you think the long coat is a conscious symbol? Editor: Absolutely. It conceals and reveals at the same time. In the '30s, what was fashion saying about the societal constraints placed on women? Her gaze is soft but resolute, though. There's a hint of defiance. Curator: It’s fascinating how a simple portrait can contain so much, wouldn't you agree? You immediately jump to politics and fashion, while I'm lost in the image, questioning how the photographer was thinking when taking the shot. Perhaps to show social climbing with fur but humbleness from being beside the bare bricks? Editor: Those bricks speak volumes to me, you know. The uniformity, the lack of individuality, juxtaposed against Wilhelmina's attempt at presenting this 'put-together' image… Did this person believe in being cookie cutter, and that following some guidelines can take them far? Or did she find that all of that meant nothing? It creates such a powerful tension! Curator: It almost makes you wish you knew her story, doesn't it? I imagine she was proud, and yet weary somehow. Like someone about to whisper a very big secret. And do you know what strikes me? It's captured on a photographic print, a fragile object preserving her presence. A portrait indeed. Editor: Perhaps that’s all the artist hoped to achieve: a fleeting, ambiguous connection. She wanted us to speculate about a subject who seems, on the surface, as though we should know the rules for a proper lady to be accepted by all, as well as our own position in it. I like art that holds questions, and not the answers. Curator: A snapshot becomes a story. Amazing.