Portret van Myra Hess before 1910

Curator: Welcome to the Rijksmuseum. We’re standing before an intriguing photograph: “Portret van Myra Hess,” an undated portrait, though certainly made before 1910, by an anonymous artist. What strikes you initially about this work? Editor: The ethereal mood. It's incredibly soft, almost dreamlike. The tones are muted, lending a melancholic air. There's a strong emphasis on the eyes, which gaze upwards, evoking a sense of longing. Curator: It certainly aligns with pictorialism, a late 19th and early 20th-century style valuing artistic effect over sharp detail. Notice how the lace collar is rendered; the textures are less about accurate representation and more about atmospheric quality. Let's consider the materiality of this piece—photography was not just about capturing reality, but about crafting a subjective impression through chemicals, printing methods, and even the paper it was printed on. Editor: Right, it seems to borrow heavily from symbolism. The upward gaze, the dark eyes contrasting with the light dress, it's loaded with connotations. Looking closer, this could be interpreted as an expression of turn-of-the-century anxieties regarding the feminine ideal and the burdens it carried. Curator: Absolutely. And Hess herself, later a Dame Commander of the British Empire, used her music to inspire through WWII, organizing lunchtime concerts that rallied a public beset by terror from constant Nazi bombing of England. This shows a direct impact of how access and means directly impact artistic merit and resonance with a wide audience. Editor: Very much. Seeing this portrait now, with that history, elevates it to an even more poignant level. There is a profound sensitivity to the face shown here in this image, making the photo a time capsule, where you can look back at Hess on the precipice of momentous changes about to transpire for Europe as a whole. It becomes less a symbol of feminine virtue and more of a potent symbol for impending historical upheavals, I would argue. Curator: The way social upheaval, artistic process and inner contemplation of artists intersect is really thought-provoking. It makes you consider the complex dance between intent, materials, historical moment, and final perception. Editor: It does, doesn’t it? It reminds us of art’s remarkable capacity to hold layers of meaning.