Portret van Willem Kloos c. 1895 - 1938

This is a portrait of Willem Kloos, the artist is unknown, and the date is unknown. I wonder, what was it like to make this portrait? I imagine the process of creating this image was like slowly coaxing a face out of the shadows. What did they want to capture? Maybe they were friends? The way the colors blend into the shadows is striking. The brown hues make it feel warm, but the pose is quite serious. He has a slight glint in his eye. Is it humour? Maybe it is arrogance. Looking at this, I am reminded of how portraiture has always been a way for artists to capture a moment in time and I think they have done that here. It feels intimate, like a glimpse into a private moment. It invites us to bring our own stories to it, to imagine the sitter's inner life and the relationship between the artist and their model. It's a reminder that art is always an exchange, a conversation between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers.