Opwaarts kijkende man c. 1858

Curator: Looking at this work, my first thought is "ethereal." There's something almost ghostly about it. What's the piece, and what am I seeing here? Editor: This is "Opwaarts kijkende man," or "Man Looking Upwards," a pencil drawing from around 1858, housed right here at the Rijksmuseum. It's likely by Bastiaan de Poorter. Curator: De Poorter, eh? So, it's a sketch. Not something meant to be definitive. It certainly feels like it exists more as a thought, doesn't it? All those loose lines...like seeing the echoes of the pencil strokes. I mean, you can barely make out a form in all that noise! Editor: Noise? I'd call it potential. The face is certainly present enough. Observe the shadows under the eye socket and the chin. You have an idealised contour achieved with incredible economy of line. And then the energetic circling—that provides a vital counterpoint. Structurally, the portrait anchors the free-flowing linework, doesn’t it? Curator: I suppose you’re right, it creates movement. Still, I read it as more wistful than intentional. Like a daydream caught on paper. The guy looks to be deep in thought. You know, sometimes I think all of art is really just a bunch of happy little accidents…Or in this case maybe melancholy little accidents. Editor: Whether accident or intention, there's certainly a striking dynamism. Also, you have the rough texture of the toned paper showing through the lighter pencil work. Curator: True! Almost makes you feel the rough quality of the paper under your own fingers, huh? It really lends an air of intimacy, doesn't it? Like you are standing there, right beside the artist. Editor: Yes! The layering achieves a tangible depth. The drawing creates such an experiential effect, such a dimensionality to what might have otherwise been just a rudimentary sketch. I suppose, even a rough sketch contains all those infinities of interpretive possibilities... Curator: Well, however de Poorter stumbled upon it, it’s one soulful sketch! Makes you wonder what grand vista he imagined when he started looking upwards.