Portret van een zittende vrouw met boek 1859 - 1870

Eduard Fuchs made this portrait of a seated woman with a book using photography, a relatively new medium in the 19th century. Photography democratized portraiture. Before this, only the wealthy could afford to have their likeness captured by a painted portrait, making it a symbol of status. The material qualities of photography – its reproducibility and relative affordability – made portraiture accessible to a wider segment of the population. The subject's attire and the ornate chair suggest a middle-class background, highlighting the shift in who could participate in visual culture. The act of holding a book also conveys a sense of literacy and intellectualism, important aspirations during this period. Photography, a new process, blurred the lines between art, technology, and commerce, impacting social structures and visual representation.