Portret van Dr. P.J.H. Cuypers 1917

This is a print, Portrait of Dr. P.J.H. Cuypers, by Bernard Willem Wierink. It’s all in warm, earthy tones – sepia or burnt sienna, maybe. The artist really uses the etching marks to define the face and beard. It gives it a kind of depth, like he was building up the image one careful line at a time. There’s a real focus on texture here, isn’t there? Look at the beard, all those tiny, swirling lines. You can almost feel the wiry-ness of it. And then compare that to the smooth, bald head, where the marks are more about contour than texture. It's interesting how much information is conveyed with so little tone or colour. The more you look, the more it reveals. The way the light catches the brow, that single line defining the lower lip. This reminds me a little of some of Whistler's portraits, and how he used etching to really get under the skin, to capture a sense of character. Ultimately, it’s a wonderful reminder that art is always a conversation, a back and forth between artists across time.