Portret van een jongen Possibly 1913 - 1926

This portrait of a boy by Jan Gottfried Stütner, shows us a straightforward, if somewhat haunting, image of youth. The tones in this photographic portrait, ranging from light grey to near-black, create a surface that’s both revealing and concealing. The texture, barely there, almost forces us to fill in the blanks, to imagine the feel of the boy's woollen suit, the smoothness of his skin. But it’s that dark backdrop, an almost void, that really pulls you in. It’s like the artist is saying, "Here's a glimpse, but the rest? That's up to you." I am drawn to the space above the boy’s head, with the markings that are barely legible but which provide such a great deal of information about the context in which the portrait was taken. You get the sense that the artist sought to convey a deeper, more personal truth about his subject, one that lingers in the shadows and half-tones of the image. It reminds me a little of August Sander, but more personal, intimate, less documentary.