Mary Stuck, die Tochter des Künstlers 

Editor: So here we have Franz von Stuck's "Mary Stuck, die Tochter des Kuenstlers", a pencil drawing, possibly undated. There's a simplicity to the image – just the head and shoulders – yet it feels incredibly detailed, especially the rendering of her hair. What jumps out at you when you look at this portrait? Curator: The immediate thing I see is the interplay between the materials themselves and the socio-economic context they reveal. Pencil, often seen as preparatory or a 'lesser' medium, here is used for a finished portrait. Why? Was it about accessibility to materials, or a deliberate choice to align himself with a certain aesthetic or class position? Think about who traditionally commissioned and created portraits, and what materials *they* typically used. Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't considered the pencil itself as a statement. Do you mean it democratizes the genre somehow? Curator: Possibly. And also consider the support. The paper looks like toned paper, readily available. Stuck’s labour here is foregrounded – the very act of drawing, the hand of the artist, is evident. Where does that place this in relation to, say, an oil painting of the time? Are we meant to focus on the skill of the artist, or something else entirely? Editor: So, the 'ordinariness' of the materials actually shifts our focus to the artistic labor and choices involved? It's like he's asking us to consider the *making* of the image. Curator: Exactly. And who is Mary Stuck? The title declares the paternal bond and therefore the labour and consumption stays "within the family", raising even further questions about art production's economy and power structures, within not only art, but the artIST's home. Editor: I’ll definitely look at portraits differently now, considering the materials as part of the message and meaning. Curator: Seeing the process of making allows us a different insight into the whole project of portraiture.