Stilleven met fotografisch portret van Asser, stereoscoop en portfolio c. 1855

This still life was created by Eduard Isaac Asser, though it’s undated, it was probably made in the Netherlands in the mid-19th century. It depicts a collection of objects, including a portrait of Asser himself, a stereoscope, and a portfolio. This combination of items speaks to the rise of photography as both a commercial enterprise and an art form in the 19th century. The portrait suggests the growing popularity of photographic portraiture among the middle class. The stereoscope, a device for viewing photographs in 3D, reflects the public’s fascination with visual technologies and entertainment. And the portfolio hints at the organization of artistic and commercial projects. Still life paintings had a long history in Dutch art, typically filled with symbolic objects. Here, Asser adapts the genre to the new medium of photography, creating a carefully arranged composition that reflects the changing cultural landscape of the time. To fully understand this image, one could explore 19th-century Dutch photography, the history of stereoscopes, and the social function of portraiture. The meaning of art, as we see here, is always contingent on its social and institutional context.