Zelfportret: B-1-1, 5 mei Possibly 1942 - 1945

Cor van Teeseling made this self-portrait in pencil on paper. It’s just a whisper of a drawing, isn’t it? A ghost of an image made from a web of grey lines. You can sense the artist figuring things out as he goes – adjusting the angle of the head, the set of the jaw. He seems to be searching for something, trying to capture not just a likeness, but a feeling, an essence. What does it feel like to be him, on this day, May 5th? I think of other artists who have looked so intensely at themselves: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Käthe Kollwitz. The act of self-portraiture is so human. It’s a way of saying, “I was here. I existed.” And even though van Teeseling died so young, in 1942, his image remains, a testament to his brief but intense existence. It invites us to contemplate the fragility of life, and the power of art to transcend time.