Portret van Jules Verne 1895 - 1940

This is an anonymous portrait of Jules Verne at the Rijksmuseum, made with some kind of photographic process, small, intimate in scale. The grey tones feel balanced, like a carefully mixed, limited palette, where each shade seems to blend seamlessly into the next. This tonality reminds me of the way painters mix colors on the canvas, letting the shades emerge through layering and blending, not a single stroke. It’s interesting that the texture is so smooth, obscuring any obvious marks or gestures. Look closely at the details of his beard. How the light catches each individual strand, creating a sense of depth and volume. The same light defines his gaze. There is an openness in his eyes, as if he is looking towards the future, imagining the worlds that he will describe in his books. Like a painting by Gerhard Richter, there is a dance between clarity and ambiguity. There is a softness to this image. It feels very contemporary.