Portret van een staande vrouw, leunend op de leuning van een stoel 1878 - 1892

Editor: We’re looking at Willem Hooijer's “Portret van een staande vrouw, leunend op de leuning van een stoel,” a photographic portrait likely from somewhere between 1878 and 1892. It’s got a kind of serious, almost stoic feel to it. What stands out to you most in this work? Curator: The pose, I think, speaks volumes. She’s leaning, yes, but there's no casualness in it. It’s a staged informality, carefully constructed, which seems so telling of the era's photographic conventions. I can almost hear the photographer telling her how to stand. Does she look defiant to you? She certainly appears guarded. Editor: Defiant is interesting, I hadn’t considered that. I was thinking more reserved, maybe a bit melancholy? I suppose it could be read either way. Curator: Melancholy definitely fits. And that almost severe dress, punctuated by that big bow...there's a visual contradiction that pulls me in. Photography at that time had a certain ritualistic feeling around it, wouldn't you say? It was supposed to "capture" you... what did they truly feel when trying to freeze themselves forever? Editor: It makes you wonder about the sitter's actual personality versus the image she wanted to project. Or the image others projected onto her. Curator: Exactly! We bring so much of ourselves to interpreting a piece like this, don't we? And that's where the real art begins, with the dialogue. Editor: Absolutely, it really transforms the way I'm viewing this portrait. There's more going on beneath the surface. Curator: Indeed. Every historical artwork becomes a little mirror, reflecting back our own understanding and prejudices!