Portret van een jonge man met vlinderstrik 1860 - 1875

J. Eberhart created this portrait of a young man with a bow tie using the Carte de Visite photography method. This photographic technique was trendy in the mid-19th century, involving creating multiple prints from a single glass negative. The resulting card-sized photographs were immensely popular as calling cards and collectibles. Looking closely, you can see how the subject is carefully posed, reflecting the formal conventions of portraiture at the time. The Carte de Visite democratized portraiture, making it accessible to a wider audience. This represented a shift from the exclusive realm of painted portraits for the wealthy to mass-produced images for the burgeoning middle class. Eberhart’s work exemplifies the intersection of art, technology, and social change, challenging the traditional boundaries between fine art and the burgeoning world of commercial photography. It invites us to consider the changing landscape of image-making in the 19th century.