Portret van een onbekende man en vrouw in kleding voor buiten met een mof en een wandelstok c. 1898 - 1912

Corine Ingelse made this portrait of an unknown man and woman, probably at her studio on Westerstraat in Utrecht. I'm curious about the "unknown." Who were they? What were they like? Did they know what was coming? A couple posing for a formal photograph. The woman in a huge fur stole and a muff, the man with his walking stick and bowler hat. They look like they're playing dress up, right? I wonder what Ingelse was thinking as she posed them. Maybe she saw a story in their faces. Or maybe she was just trying to make a living. The surface of the photograph is cracked and faded, and reminds me that the best paintings often capture something accidental, something unintended. It's what I call "the real." It's what makes art so interesting. It's an ongoing conversation across time, in which we all, artists and viewers, keep on learning from each other.