Masker met gezicht van man 1895 - 1896

Editor: Here we have "Masker met gezicht van man", or "Mask with a Man's Face," a woodcut print created around 1895-1896 by Henri-Charles Guérard. It's part of the Rijksmuseum collection. What strikes me immediately is how unsettling this mask looks. Those piercing eyes and furrowed brow give off such a strong sense of anger. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, the 'unsettling' nature is what gets me too! It feels primal, almost like a caricature dredged up from some ancient collective nightmare. Considering Guérard’s interest in Japonisme, the mask likely draws on the exaggerated expressions common in ukiyo-e theatre prints – think fierce samurai or wrathful demons. Is it truly just a mask? Or could it be a self-portrait in disguise, a vent for suppressed emotions? What stories is that face screaming, even without words? Editor: So, it's a Western artist engaging with Japanese artistic conventions, using a mask to maybe express something hidden... Curator: Precisely! It’s this layered translation – a Western lens interpreting Eastern motifs to reveal personal, perhaps uncomfortable, truths. What does it say about identity when we hide behind a mask? Is the ferocity real, or merely a performance? It tickles the imagination, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely! I initially saw anger, but now I'm thinking more about the performative aspect, the hiding. Curator: Art's always a journey, a revealing… and a concealing, all at once. Thank you for joining the journey with me.