It is 1879 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and a circle of students gather around a seated figure, each attempting to translate his presence into a fine portrait. The model is Pierre Louis Alexandre, a man whose life, like his image, would quietly persist across dozens of canvases. One of those works, Portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre (c. 1879–80) by Alma Holsteinson, has recently entered the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, where it is now on view.
Holsteinson’s portrait is striking in its restraint. Alexandre sits with his hands clasped around his knee, his body turned slightly away, his gaze cast over his shoulder. There is no elaborate setting only a cool, atmospheric background of pale blues and greys. This simplicity directs attention to the figure himself. His posture is relaxed but deliberate; his muscular frame carefully captured with control and skill. It conveys both physical strength, composure, and grace. The effect is one of immediacy. He is not staged within a narrative so much as he is allowed to occupy the space fully.
The biography that surrounds Alexandre deepens this presence. Born in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, he arrived in Stockholm as a young man after a transatlantic journey shaped by the broader currents of displacement and mobility in the 19th century. Working primarily as a dockworker, he later found employment as a life model at the Academy, where his role provided both financial stability and a place within the artistic community. Over the course of several decades, he became one of the most frequently depicted Black sitters in pre-20th-century European art.
Holsteinson herself remains a more elusive figure. Born in 1859 in Norberg, Sweden, she studied at the Royal Academy during a period when access for women was still relatively progressive by European standards. Though little of her work survives today, the AGO’s acquisition marks a significant expansion of her presence beyond Scandinavian collections. In this sense, the painting represents a convergence of two histories one increasingly researched, the other still being recovered.
Yet, the renewed prominence of this work today is not solely a matter of biography or formal quality. It is also shaped by the identity of its sitter and the context in which it is now displayed. Alexandre’s presence in a 19th-century European academic setting remains visually and historically striking, particularly within contemporary conversations around representation and the African diaspora.
This visibility invites a quieter question about the nature of display itself. It is what I refer to here as “showcasing,” a condition in which a visible difference is put on display for the benefit of someone else and, however sensitively rendered, becomes central to the viewer’s experience. In Holsteinson’s portrait, Alexandre is neither caricatured nor overtly exoticized; he is presented with a degree of dignity and attention that resists easy categorization. And yet, in the present moment, his image carries an additional layer of meaning. His distinction within the historical context becomes part of the work’s contemporary resonance.
Institutions like the AGO are increasingly attentive to these histories, seeking to expand the narratives represented within their collections. The acquisition of Holsteinson’s portrait participates in this broader effort, connecting European academic painting to global histories of movement, labour, and identity. At the same time, it highlights the complexity of viewing such works today. To recognize Alexandre’s presence is to acknowledge both the conditions that shaped his life and the ways in which his image continues to circulate.
Holsteinson’s portrait endures because it holds this tension. It presents a singular individual while also carrying the weight of broader histories. Standing before it, one is struck not only by the immediacy of the figure, but by the layers of meaning that have gathered around him then and now.
References:
Rolfe, M. (n.d.). Pierre Louis Alexandre, 19th century top model. Foyer. https://readfoyer.com/article/pierre-louis-alexandre-19th-century-top-model
