Standing Man Wearing a Hat and a Short Coat c. 1650 - 1655

Willem Drost made this brisk sketch of a standing man, sometime in the 17th century, with pen and brown ink on paper. Look closely, and you will see that the artist has made use of the paper itself as a kind of tone, against which he could work. The support wasn't just a passive surface, but an active participant in the making process. The quick, confident strokes tell us that Drost was assured in his technique. This wasn't a laborious painting, slowly built up, but a rapid act of transcription. We can imagine him capturing the man’s likeness in just a few minutes. There’s a sense of immediacy. He wasn’t just depicting the man's outer appearance, but his inner character, his bearing. The sketch allows us to recognize the artistry involved in the choice of materials, and the skill of the maker, which is an expression of social and cultural meaning.