Portret van een onbekende jongen 1878 - 1931

Heinrich Krabbé made this portrait of an unknown boy, using what looks like pencil or charcoal. The colors are subdued – lots of browns and grays, but then, BAM, those startling blue eyes! Krabbé's got this incredible softness in his touch. See how the lines kind of dissolve into each other? It's like he's feeling his way around the form, not just drawing it. And the paper itself has a rough texture that adds to this sense of intimacy, like we're seeing something very private. I’m really drawn to the collar, it’s got all these tiny, delicate lines and curves. It’s like Krabbé is trying to capture something fleeting, like the way light catches on lace. It reminds me a bit of Whistler, who was also obsessed with capturing these ephemeral moments. But, of course, art is never just one thing, it’s always a conversation.