Reproductie van een gravure van een portret van Adriaen Brouwer door Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert before 1877

Joseph Maes made this reproduction of a portrait of Adriaen Brouwer, originally engraved by Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert, using an etching technique. Maes, born in Haarlem in 1838, lived through a time of significant social and political change in the Netherlands. This reproduction brings forward questions of authorship and originality. The initial portrait by Bolswert captures Brouwer, a 17th-century Flemish painter known for his genre scenes depicting the lives of peasants and working-class individuals. When Maes reproduces Bolswert's engraving, it is not just an aesthetic exercise; it is an engagement with the history of representation and the portrayal of identity. What does it mean to reproduce an image of an artist who dedicated his career to depicting the lives of ordinary people? How does Maes, working in a different era, engage with the legacy and social commentary embedded in Brouwer's work? By recreating this image, Maes invites us to reflect on the historical context in which artists like Brouwer operated and the ways in which their work continues to resonate through reproductions.