Portret van twee onbekende kinderen 1911 - 1914

This photograph of two unknown children was taken by Hieronymus David Fraenkel, probably at his Amsterdam studio. It’s a fascinating little picture, and when I look at it I'm reminded how art making is an act of remembering and of bearing witness. The muted tones feel timeless, don’t they? There’s a delicate balance between light and shadow that is achieved by a real mastery of process, a dance between intuition and technique. It speaks of the artist's touch, the way they manage to capture a moment, a mood, a feeling. Look at the chair, the texture of the girl's dress, the ribbon in her hair – the way the light catches each detail. It’s almost like the artist is painting with light. I think of other artists who were fascinated by light, like Vermeer, or maybe even Gerhard Richter, who used photography to create these blurry, dreamlike paintings. Art is such an ongoing conversation, isn't it? There are no fixed meanings, just endless interpretations.