Staande man met de hand op de heup 1710 - 1772

Curator: I’m immediately struck by how casual this feels, almost like catching someone in a moment. A quick sketch but with so much implied swagger! Editor: Indeed! Here we have "Standing Man with Hand on Hip," a pencil drawing on paper attributed to Petrus Johannes van Reysschoot, likely created sometime between 1710 and 1772. It’s fascinating how a simple genre-painting rendering, almost like a snapshot, captures a whole persona. Curator: A genre-painting! It gives me ideas about how to explore representations of masculinity during that period. What does it say about the social role assigned to men? His stance is everything. What’s your take? Editor: It screams, "I’ve got this." It feels…familiar somehow. You know, that sense you get when you’re around someone who is so assured. He is right where he should be, perfectly self-possessed. The baroque style suggests some of the fashions and cultural elements that reinforce his status. Curator: The composition draws attention to class and privilege so much by just using body language. Where does he exist in a socio-economic hierarchy and who does that position affect? How is he complicit, or even fighting it? That’s all up for debate. Editor: Precisely! I am imagining myself as the artist sketching him, thinking about whether I capture a little of his secret interior world and the ways people perceive this carefully constructed identity. Is there some playful subversiveness we are not picking up? I can see someone reading this from so many angles, Curator. Curator: That tension between assumed confidence and maybe underlying insecurities that you imply is what is great here. It makes one consider a host of narratives, about societal expectations and personal burdens. The sketch becomes less about one man, but a whole historical paradigm. Editor: A quick sketch, perhaps, but the possibilities it unfolds linger long after.