Portret van Patrick Bakker 1936

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this portrait of Patrick Bakker in 1932. Look at the gradations of tone, the way the soft graphite captures the light on his face, and the dark shadows around his eyes. I can imagine Schelfhout, sitting across from Bakker, carefully observing the way the light falls, trying to capture something of his personality. It's like he's feeling his way through the darkness to find the light. The hatching marks around the collar of his shirt are so tentative and delicate, it's as if Schelfhout is saying, 'I'm not sure about this,' and then, bam! The dark accents of his eyes and the wave of his hair, where he suddenly knows exactly what he wants. It is through these subtle variations in tone and texture that the artist conveys not just an image, but a feeling, an atmosphere, a sense of the personhood of Patrick Bakker. It reminds me of other portraitists like Lucian Freud, who also sought to capture something essential about their sitters through intense observation and mark-making. And that is how artists speak across time, in an ongoing conversation, each adding their unique perspective to the ever-evolving story of art.