Zelfportret: B-1-1, 4 februari Possibly 1942

Cor van Teeseling made this self-portrait in pencil on February 4th. You can see the faint lines, almost like a ghost of an image, emerging from the paper. It’s interesting to imagine the artist looking in the mirror, trying to capture his own likeness, and I wonder what he was thinking at that moment. The pencil lines are delicate and tentative, and the shading is subtle, creating a soft and dreamlike quality. The drawing feels intimate. It reminds me of other portraits where artists use simple lines to convey emotion and character, like those by Giacometti. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, and I believe that each work of art is a response to what has come before. This drawing leaves space for interpretation, inviting us to engage with the artist's vision and to find our own meaning in the image.