Meisjes c. 1922 - 1925

Otto Verhagen made this sheet of drawings, titled Meisjes, with graphite and colored pencil. It looks like he's capturing fleeting moments, a jumble of impressions and different poses on one page. The way the artist uses the graphite is interesting, loose and searching, building form with these short, scribbly lines. It's like each mark is a question, not a statement. The color is understated, just a hint of warmth in the cheeks and hair, grounding the sketches. Look at the close-up of the blonde child; her face rendered with subtle gradations of color that make her eyes pop. There's a kind of vulnerability there, a soft openness that gives a real sense of character. This reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz in its sensitive depiction of childhood. It’s all about the process of looking and trying to capture the essence of a subject, embracing the incomplete. It's not about perfection, but about the messy, beautiful reality of being human.