Portrait of Coenraad van Hulst, Actor, as President of the Arts-Promoting Company VW in Amsterdam (so named after the founders Casper Vreedenberg and Jan van Well)

The portrait employs a restrained chiaroscuro, with a focused light source illuminating the figure while the red wall recedes into shadow. Van Rossum’s brushwork renders the textures of fabric, metal, and paper with meticulous detail, creating a sense of three‑dimensional presence. The limited background elements—a plain wall and two small gold stars on pedestals—serve to isolate the sitter and highlight his status.

Executed in 1839, the painting entered the Rijksmuseum’s collection as part of its 19th‑century Dutch portrait holdings. Its provenance traces back to the artist’s studio and subsequent private ownership before acquisition by the museum, where it remains a documented example of civic portraiture linked to Amsterdam’s cultural institutions of the period.