Gert Germeraad, "Mansportret," 2002

Gert Germeraad, "Mansportret," 2002
Location: Center of The Hague: Spui - Grote Marktstraat - Kalvermarkt

Fully dedicated to the portrait, sculptor Gert Germeraad (1959) creates heads, busts, and torsos of real people. He bases these on both painted or drawn self-portraits by other artists and theories such as physiognomy, or 'the art of reading faces.' In short, Germeraad is interested in the portrait in the broadest sense.

We could describe this sculptor as an interpreter who translates two-dimensional artworks from the past into his own modern, three-dimensional visual language. From clay, Germeraad sculpted portrait heads inspired by profile sketches by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). At the same time, he is a researcher. His bronze pedestal sculpture "Mansportret" emerged from a study of artists' self-images. He also incorporated the nude self-portraits of Viennese artist Egon Schiele (1890-1918), who depicted his own thin, emaciated body with intense emotions. Based on these drawings, Germeraad created a series of elongated torsos, a motif he applied in "Mansportret."

A faint trace of Schiele's influence can still be detected in the sculpture: the skinny, youthful body, narrow shoulders, and relatively large head with a high forehead. The nudity gives the artwork an erotic charge.

However, Germeraad always adds his own twist to his sculptures. "Mansportret" is not a literal translation of a drawing by Schiele but a portrait of a fictional person—someone with desires and emotions. Emotions that are directed inward rather than outward, as in Schiele's work. The focus is not so much on ugliness but on vulnerability. The artwork is not a scream but a depiction of a contemplative moment. "This man holds himself while standing in the world and reflecting," Germeraad explains.