Portret van A. de Roos before 1942

This is a small portrait, made by Zacharias Fraenkel. It's a photograph, not a painting, of course, but the act of making a portrait – whether with paint or light – always feels like a kind of dance, a conversation between the artist and the sitter. I’m struck by the formality of the pose, the careful arrangement of limbs. The sitter leans casually against a chair. It’s a performance of ease, isn't it? I can imagine Fraenkel carefully adjusting the angle of the chair, the tilt of the head, searching for that perfect balance between vulnerability and poise. And look at the light. It sculpts the face, bringing a sense of depth and character. The muted palette adds to the overall mood, evoking a sense of nostalgia. The surface of the photograph seems to soak up the light, which gives a physical feeling to the image. We’re all constantly learning from one another, building upon the discoveries and experiments of those who came before. Every image adds to the ongoing conversation about what it means to be human.