Portret van Patrick Bakker 1936

This is Lodewijk Schelfhout’s ‘Portret van Patrick Bakker’ made around 1932, using etching. What strikes me about this piece is the way it teeters between precision and something more dreamlike, right? The subtle gradations in tone, achieved through delicate cross-hatching, give a real sense of depth, even though the palette is so restrained. Look at the way the light catches the cheekbone, it's like Schelfhout is feeling his way around the contours of the face. And then there are these almost wispy lines that define the hair, which seem to defy gravity. They create a halo effect, hinting at something beyond the purely representational. It’s like a whisper, suggesting that the essence of a person is always just beyond our grasp, an idea explored by artists like Lucian Freud. Ultimately, this piece reminds us that art is not about capturing a fixed reality, but about embracing ambiguity.