Portret van R.P.J. Tutein Nolthenius 1874 - 1925

This is Jan Veth's drawing of R.P.J. Tutein Nolthenius, made with colored chalk, and now held at the Rijksmuseum. Veth was part of a generation of Dutch artists who came of age amidst debates about art's role in modern society. Should it serve the establishment, or challenge it? Here, the sitter's solid, respectable bearing is conveyed through Veth's characteristically sensitive handling of light and shadow. Nolthenius was a prominent figure in Rotterdam's cultural life, and Veth's portrait subtly acknowledges the sitter’s social standing through the conventional codes of bourgeois portraiture. But Veth himself had strong socialist convictions, and portraits like this one allowed him to explore the tensions between art's institutional functions and its potential for individual expression. By looking at Veth's other writings and activities, we can see how he tried to navigate this complex relationship. Ultimately, art's meaning is inseparable from the social context in which it was created and displayed.