Geabstraheerd gezicht met getuite lippen 1923

Erich Wichmann made this little drawing, "Geabstraheerd gezicht met getuite lippen", sometime in the 1920s. It's just pencil on paper, but it has a real presence. I love how the face emerges from the paper almost like a stain, the pencil smudged and blurred, with the features picked out through darker, more insistent marks. The eyes are particularly striking: encircled by a network of lines, they seem to stare out with a mix of weariness and knowing. The process feels raw and immediate, like he was trying to capture a fleeting expression or emotion. There's something very modern about it, in the way it embraces imperfection and ambiguity. I'm reminded of other artists like Alfred Kubin who channeled the unconscious through their drawings. Like them, Wichmann seems less interested in capturing a likeness than in exploring the inner landscape of the human psyche. It feels like a conversation, ideas unfolding and transforming with each stroke.