Portret van Karl Meissner before 1903

This is Hugo Erfurth's portrait of Karl Meissner. I'm not sure when it was made, but it was made through photography. It's small, only 106 mm high and 85 mm wide, so maybe it’s like a page from a book, not a painting per se. I am always interested in what happens on the surface; photography has one kind of surface, and painting another. In both cases, though, there’s a kind of record. I am intrigued by the question of what constitutes a surface and how that relates to the image, its legibility and illegibility. The picture is in black and white, with soft gradations. Is that because the original was a little faded? Or was that Erfurth's intention? How does this portrait convey intimacy, feeling, or meaning? The image seems to be a conversation between the photographer and the sitter. It makes me wonder about the dialogue between artists across time. As artists, we're always picking up on each other's ideas, whether we know it or not. It's like this continuous exchange that keeps creativity alive.