Dubbelportret van Pierre Loti en een onbekende vrouw 1908

This undated double portrait of Pierre Loti and an unknown woman, by an anonymous artist, is a sepia-toned photograph, a ghostly rendering of two figures in what seems to be a staged moment. I can almost feel the artist, whoever they were, carefully adjusting the focus, trying to capture something fleeting, something real in the midst of the artifice. It's like they’re reaching for a moment that keeps slipping away, a bit like trying to nail a color perfectly when you're mixing paint. Loti, dressed in period costume, alongside the woman, who’s draped in white, could be a character out of one of his novels. But who was she to the artist? How did they end up in the same picture? The slight blurring of the background, the way the light catches her face… it all adds to the sense of mystery. And I wonder if the artist was thinking about the stories these people held, or if they were just focused on capturing the image. Artists are always in conversation, pulling from the past, riffing on each other’s ideas. This portrait, with its blend of fact and fiction, reminds me that art isn’t about answers, but about asking questions and embracing uncertainty.