Portret van Jurriaan Buttner 1737 - 1792

Curator: Okay, so what strikes you first about this portrait of Jurriaan Buttner? It’s a graphite drawing by John Greenwood, dating roughly from 1737 to 1792. Editor: It feels intimate, almost like overhearing a private moment. He’s caught mid-thought, you know? The fur hat is a bold statement, a signifier of class privilege in that era. But his expression... It's not smug; there is a melancholic softness to his eyes. Curator: Exactly! There’s a gentleness there, a sense of inner life. I mean, the drawing itself is beautifully observed, but the sitter’s psychology really elevates it. The light, the quick, soft hatching work giving shape to the face…he feels incredibly present. Editor: I’m also drawn to his hands; they seem almost restless. Gesturing even. It contrasts so starkly with the static nature of a traditional portrait. Were these considered acceptable modes of representations for this historical moment? And the cup... seemingly discarded, off center. Such quiet acts of rebellion here! Curator: Yes, they are definitely dynamic. Perhaps he was speaking? It could be interpreted that his very inclusion might suggest something about the changing dynamics of power, wealth, and identity at the time…The realism lends a democratic flavor, almost! But the hat, you’re right, keeps us grounded in the elite. Editor: A conflicted figure, and I am wondering what he himself might think about class, representation, or this precise medium of expression. And his hands seem to reflect that tension, mirroring his engagement with the mug, which can easily be perceived as excess. A real contradiction... Curator: Beautifully said! I see him now in a fresh way! I wonder if Buttner, too, understood he was both representing and slightly defying convention. I think maybe we all carry such inherent paradoxes within us… Editor: It’s a wonderful thing when a drawing from centuries ago can speak so eloquently to our current selves, even in our own states of uncertainty and, shall we say, chaos. This really encourages an embrace of human contradictions, rather than attempting to repress or deny them, I find!