D.S. MacColl c. 1906

Curator: Right, let's discuss this portrait. It's an oil on canvas, titled "D.S. MacColl," painted by Donald Maclaren. Editor: My first thought is intensity. The subject's gaze is so focused, almost piercing. There's something both dignified and vaguely unsettling about it. Curator: It’s interesting that you pick up on that unease. MacColl was a well-known art critic and keeper of the Tate, roles of considerable power. Maclaren perhaps captured his somewhat austere character. Editor: Austere, but also a man of his time, wouldn’t you say? The crisp white collar and dark suit read as signifiers of bourgeois masculinity. Curator: Absolutely. And the brushwork, it's quite expressive. See the thick, almost sculptural application of paint, especially around the face? It adds to the feeling of presence. Editor: Yes, but it also, in a way, renders him a product of his time and class – perhaps a little too stiff, a little too imposing. It would be so interesting to know what MacColl thought of this depiction. Curator: That's the beauty of a portrait, isn't it? It's not just a likeness, but an interpretation— a conversation across time. Editor: Indeed! A reflection on power, representation, and the enduring complexities of the human gaze.