Lezende jonge vrouw en oudere man 1892 - 1913

Bramine Hubrecht made this etching of a young woman reading with an older man. Look at the cross hatching, the density of the lines, and imagine her hand moving across the plate, building up these tonal areas. I think she’s trying to get at something about the quiet intimacy, and maybe the awkwardness, in this moment between two people. I wonder what it was like for her to make this? The etched lines almost vibrate on the surface, like the nervous anticipation of a first date. The dress of the young woman cascades into vertical lines, she’s fully engulfed. The older man is more sturdy, a comforting presence. The artist is trying to capture something here—a feeling, a mood, a relationship—as the process of artmaking becomes its own form of inquiry. Hubrecht might have been in conversation with other artists grappling with similar themes of identity, relationships, and interiority in their work. Ultimately, it’s this shared exploration that brings us together, inviting us to see and feel in new ways.