Portret van Alexander, prins der Nederlanden 1870 - 1949

Here’s a small portrait of Alexander, Prince of the Netherlands, made by an anonymous artist. Look closely, and you’ll see it’s made up of tiny, precise lines, almost like a dense network of threads, forming a delicate veil over the prince’s face and attire. The cumulative effect of this kind of mark-making gives the portrait a unique texture. The artist's hand isn't trying to hide here. It is laid bare, in fact. See how the lines curve and change direction to create the illusion of light and shadow? This is more than just a picture; it’s a record of a process, a dance between the artist's hand and the image. I'm reminded of how Chuck Close used a similar approach, building portraits from grids of abstract shapes, each mark contributing to the whole. This portrait is a reminder that art is always a conversation, across time and between artists, about seeing and making.