Portret van Hector Treub 1903

This monochrome portrait of Hector Treub was made by Pieter Dupont in 1903. It shows him sitting in what looks like a study. You can almost see him in his chair, and maybe he had to sit for hours! I wonder what Dupont was thinking when he was making this image. Was he trying to capture the spirit of the sitter, or just make a good likeness? I am curious about his process. I like how the details in his face are worked. You can see every hair in his beard, the way the light catches his brow. And then there's the bookshelf in the background, full of stories, as well as Hector holding a book. Maybe he was a writer himself? You can tell Dupont paid a lot of attention. He captured Treub as an individual. This act of looking and recording always feels kind of magical to me. It’s like a little conversation between the artist and the sitter, and now between us and them too.