Portret van mevrouw Ursula Jannink-Veraguth 1941 - 1945

This is a portrait of Ursula Jannink-Veraguth, painted in 1941 with oil on canvas by an anonymous artist. The visible brushstrokes and muted palette reflect a direct, almost documentary approach. We see the subject’s features rendered with a frankness, a deliberate, unidealized realism. Oil paint, of course, has a long history in portraiture. It allows for subtle gradations of tone and color. Here, the texture feels almost dry, without the glossiness that characterized many society portraits of earlier eras. The very lack of obvious virtuosity suggests a focus on honest representation. The artist invites us to consider the person represented, perhaps against a backdrop of wartime austerity. What does it mean to make a portrait with such directness? It certainly prompts us to think about the cultural and social context of its making.