Silhouetportret van Nicolaas Christiaan Kist 1809 - 1848

Pieter Barbiers IV created this Silhouette Portrait of Nicolaas Christiaan Kist as a cut-out, a material absence filled with stark black against a muted background. The figure is composed of sharp lines and smooth curves which, like a character in Plato’s cave, only hint at the full form through projected outlines. The profile view traditionally flattens the subject, but here, Barbiers uses the silhouette to abstract Kist’s form, emphasizing the geometric interplay of his hair, the cut of his coat, and the fall of his robes. Each element is simplified into essential shapes, reducing the man to a play of angles and curves. The signature, scrawled below, mirrors this aesthetic; the name becomes a formal element, its loops and lines echoing the figure above. Consider how Barbiers uses the limitations of the medium to challenge our perception of portraiture. What is lost, and what is gained when a person is rendered as pure shape, a figure of light and dark? This is not just a likeness, but an exercise in reduction, transforming identity into an exercise in form.