Selvportræt af Ferdinand Bol 1842

Editor: This is Vilhelm Kyhn's 1842 engraving, "Self-Portrait of Ferdinand Bol," held at the SMK. I find the level of detail in this print striking, especially considering its scale. What can you tell me about this particular work? Curator: This print presents a fascinating problem, doesn't it? We see a self-portrait *of* an artist, Ferdinand Bol, rendered through the laborious process of engraving *by* another artist, Vilhelm Kyhn, in the 19th century. What labour and historical forces went into producing and distributing images like these? Editor: That's an interesting point – it makes you think about who the intended audience was and the means of production available at the time. Do you think Kyhn was trying to make art more accessible by reproducing older portraits? Curator: Exactly. How does this reproductive method affect our understanding of artistic "originality?" Consider the materials: the copper plate, the inks, the paper—these are not the same as the materials Bol would have used to create an oil painting, are they? Editor: Not at all. An engraving like this allows for much wider circulation and potentially democratizes access to Bol’s image. So the print medium really transforms it. Curator: Precisely. Kyhn's choice of engraving speaks to the rise of print culture and the shifting social function of art at that time. How can we see a portrait as more than just an aesthetic object? What other meanings can it carry when it's reproduced as a print? Editor: I never thought about that! I’m starting to see that prints can function as almost cultural commodities in a way that a unique painting can't. It makes me wonder who owned prints like this and why. Curator: Yes! Thinking about it from a materialist perspective lets us connect this image to a network of artistic labour and consumption that challenges traditional views of the isolated artistic genius. It reframes how we understand art’s place within broader economic systems.