Zelfportret 1892 - 1916

Curator: This is a self-portrait by Rik Wouters, likely created between 1892 and 1916, rendered as an intaglio etching. Editor: Immediately, there's a somberness conveyed through the monochromatic palette and the hunched posture of the figure. It’s quite intimate. Curator: Note how Wouters uses a dense network of lines to model form and shadow. The strategic employment of cross-hatching builds up a sense of volume, defining both the figure and the enveloping space. Editor: Right, it feels like the materiality of the printmaking process itself underscores the artist's solitary mood. The labor involved in etching the plate, the repetitive action… it mirrors a sense of isolation, don't you think? And what about his clothing, I mean, it suggests his role in society, a creative but also, maybe, of the working class. Curator: Intriguing, though I’d suggest focusing on how the composition uses geometric forms -the window against the curved silhouette, creates tension. The figure, seated almost passively, generates a contemplative stillness. The light from the window punctuates that emotional state. Editor: The angle and limited lighting are powerful, indeed, because they create the feel of a hidden space, like looking into a mind made vulnerable, etched layer by layer in steel and transferred to paper. You almost sense the repetitive act of creating a material work in parallel to this moment of artistic introspection. Curator: His face is obscured. What's intriguing to me is the visual dialectic: this deliberate obfuscation contrasts the impulse toward self-revelation that is inherent in self-portraiture. Editor: The whole piece emphasizes how work affects your life. Curator: Ultimately, the artist’s approach challenges our notions of interiority and exteriority as visual codes to be unraveled and contemplated. Editor: For me it speaks more deeply to the lonely working life so many face, making things day after day, but each piece echoing his self-isolation and the impact that manual process bears on an artist's life.