Portret van een onbekende man, vermoedelijk Martinus Marmelstein 1900 - 1940

J. Kuipers made this photographic portrait of an unknown man, who is thought to be Martinus Marmelstein. It’s not a painting, but in a way, it kind of is. Think about the photographer wrestling with light and shadow, coaxing out the depth of feeling in this gentleman’s face. It makes me wonder about all the portraits I’ve ever made, and what I was trying to find. The muted sepia tones have a way of flattening time, bringing past and present into a single, unified space. I imagine Kuipers carefully selecting the right moment, trying to catch a flicker of something real behind the sitter’s eyes. He is an unknown man, but through this image, his face is now so familiar. I think of photographers and painters everywhere, each one in their own medium trying to capture the human condition. It's like one big, ongoing art conversation.