Profiel van man met hoge hoed, naar links 1854

Curator: Oh, there's something wonderfully haunting about this one. Editor: Indeed. This is “Profile of a Man with a Top Hat, Facing Left,” a pencil drawing made around 1854 by Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. There's an intriguing, almost fleeting quality to it, don't you think? Curator: Absolutely. The sketch feels so…instantaneous. It's like we're glimpsing a real person caught in a private moment. A businessman, perhaps? It exudes an air of restrained dignity, though. The subtle shading around his face and the almost hurried lines of his coat... what do you think about this paper, with those little writings near the corner? What's going on here? Editor: That immediacy probably comes from the style of quick and light sketching Van Os employs, typical for what some people have called amateur artwork or sketchbook art. These types of drawings, unlike the larger portraits of the time, showcase artists sketching people to train their abilities and experiment. Those little writings on the bottom do help us to give it a specific context too, noting something like "Thursday, Saint Stephen, pope." I wonder if he actually knew him, or if this man reminded him of a clergyman... Curator: Yes, a very quick take! There's something incredibly intimate about seeing those sketches in the margins, capturing a specific date or impression, right? The hat's so severe, yet his expression seems almost vulnerable. He's someone trying to adhere to social convention, wearing this austere tall hat, but beneath it, I get the feeling there's a rich inner world brimming with thoughts and emotions. Editor: And think of where something like this would have existed. Private sketchbooks like these offered an escape from the rigid expectations placed upon portraiture during that period. I imagine Van Os observing people around town, quietly capturing their likenesses in these rapid sketches. The very act was almost… subversive. A quiet resistance against the formality of his day. It lets an individual like him represent other members of the city in new ways. Curator: Exactly! That tension makes this piece so relatable, even today. Editor: It’s a beautiful testament to the enduring power of a simple sketch to capture the complexities of the human spirit, and in such an economical form! Curator: Definitely a fleeting glimpse into another person’s world.