Portret van een man met bakkebaarden c. 1866 - 1900

Johan Christiaan Reesinck created this portrait of a man with sideburns using a photographic process of that time. The subject is framed within an oval, setting up a contrast between the soft curves of the frame and the sharp lines of the man’s jacket. The composition invites us to examine how photography flattens three-dimensional space into a series of tonal relationships. Reesinck uses light to sculpt the man’s face. We see the shadow and the subtle gradations which define his features. It's almost as if the artist tried to capture the very essence of his subject. There is an attempt to formalize the figure of the bourgeois sitter through a codified semiotic system of signs. The man's dark jacket and bow tie against the neutral background are not merely aesthetic choices but also reflect the cultural codes of representation and respectability. These visual elements combine to create a portrait that is rooted in its time, yet open for endless interpretation.