Een schilder in zijn atelier 1846

David Bles made this pen lithograph titled ‘A Painter in his Studio’, sometime in the 19th century, now residing at the Rijksmuseum. Bles situates us within the intimate space of the artist's studio, a space traditionally coded as masculine, and a place of labor and creativity. Yet, we also see how this space is crowded with the legacy of art history itself. The sketches behind the artist reference Rembrandt, Jan Steen, and Frans Hals, suggesting the weight of the Dutch Masters on contemporary artists. There's a subtle tension between the artist's act of creation and the imposing presence of art history. Are they in conversation, or is the artist overshadowed? There’s a sense of the artist searching for his place within a lineage, grappling with how to contribute something new while being rooted in the past. Bles invites us to reflect on what it means to be an artist, to create, and to find one's own voice amidst a chorus of voices that came before.