Portret van Dolf Cohen 1976

This is Rein Dool's portrait of Dolf Cohen. It was created using etching and aquatint. I'm thinking about the bite of the acid on the plate, the image emerging bit by bit. It’s a slow process and it must have required real care and intention. Dool's made something pretty compelling. Cohen’s got this look, like he's got a secret. He's got a strong presence, doesn't he? His hands are clasped and he seems self-assured, and it looks like Dool had a confidence in his mark-making too. You see how he's used these really quick, scratchy lines to build up the tone? It feels like he’s really digging into the surface, trying to capture something essential about Cohen’s character. There’s something about the way he’s rendered the hands, with this real sense of volume, that reminds me of some of Lucien Freud’s etchings. You can see that Dool has looked at other artists, and is in dialogue with them through time. It’s lovely to think of artists in conversation like that.