Portrait Of A Member Of The Croisière Jaune Expedition Team 

Editor: This is Alexandre Jacovleff’s “Portrait Of A Member Of The Croisière Jaune Expedition Team”, and it appears to be a pencil drawing. It's so warm and the shading is amazing, it seems almost photographic. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: Well, I see the layered labor involved. Look at the deliberate application of pencil, how it builds up tone and texture. But also, consider *who* is being portrayed. A member of the Croisière Jaune, Citroën's expedition... Editor: So, you mean a car company? I guess I always thought of art and industry as separate things. Curator: Exactly! The expedition itself was a massive industrial undertaking. This isn't just a portrait; it’s a record *of* a system of production, exploitation of resources and humans and its entanglement with artistic representation. What did the materials – the paper and pencil – *mean* in that context, when brought across continents? What were they worth? Editor: So, the drawing isn’t just about the individual, but the entire operation and all the stuff that went into it? Curator: Precisely! This image embodies global networks of extraction, labor, and consumption, brought to life through artistic skill. Editor: I hadn't thought of a portrait as having that kind of… weight. It gives me a whole new way to appreciate not just this image, but any drawing. Curator: It makes you think about how the hand touches the world, leaving its mark through simple materials. The materials themselves testify of journeys, commerce and encounters.