Portret van Wijnand Nuijen c. 1840 - 1843

Curator: Ah, look, here's a lovely lithograph by F. van Goor, titled "Portret van Wijnand Nuijen," dating back to around 1840-1843. It’s currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately I get this… slightly melancholic but also defiant air. That gaze just cuts through. Very romantic. A handsome man frozen in time. Curator: Indeed. It's a perfect example of the Romantic era's fascination with the individual. Notice the sharp lines and how van Goor uses shadow. Nuijen, the subject, was actually a painter himself. His life was unfortunately quite tragic. Editor: A tragic artist, hmm? Makes that expression even more poignant, doesn't it? Arms crossed—is that defensiveness or just the pose of the time? The soft blurring of the details behind him suggest that he's the point of focus, which amplifies that singular gaze. Curator: Crossed arms can represent a sort of self-containment, definitely fitting with a tragic figure who might feel isolated. I think it definitely channels the feeling of inner turbulence typical of the Romantic artistic genius. You can also see this through the stormy landscapes that he made, often depicting shipwrecks which are loaded symbols about the sublime, mortality, the power of nature… Editor: The image makes me feel a connection across the years, not just to Nuijen, but to something deeper, about creativity and the struggle against fate, I guess? He feels like a kindred spirit despite the differences in our lived experiences. Almost eerie how this piece evokes so much. Curator: Precisely. This image really epitomises how artistic movements affect and reflect specific emotions; and how individuals can be representatives of this mood. So that, over time, as observers, we see in an image a historical as well as psychological phenomenon of how cultures have shaped and been shaped. Editor: It's funny, isn't it? Looking into the eyes of someone long gone and feeling like they're looking right back, almost a conversation about how universal emotion is, regardless of time. Makes you wonder what Nuijen would think of our interpretation.