Jan Poortenaar drukt een prent af c. 1930 - 1950

This photograph captures Jan Poortenaar operating a printing press, its date and creator now unknown. The image evokes an era where the tactile nature of art-making was front and center, before the digital age transformed artistic production. Poortenaar’s intense concentration shows us the physical labor involved in printmaking, a process deeply rooted in craft and skill. Think about the social and economic structures of the art world, where access to tools and training often reflected one's class and status. The photograph quietly challenges the romanticized image of the artist as a solitary genius, highlighting instead the artist as a worker. This image preserves the memory of artistic traditions and the labor-intensive processes that have shaped our visual culture.