Portret van Pieter Wilhelm Adriaan Cort van der Linden 1902

Hendrik Johannes Haverman made this pencil portrait in 1902 of Pieter Wilhelm Adriaan Cort van der Linden. Look how Haverman coaxes subtle tonal variation from the pencil, and how he renders the beard with thousands of tiny strokes. It’s an incremental process, each mark building the form, like layering thoughts in a conversation. Up close, the texture of the paper is evident. You can see how the graphite sits on the surface, catching the light. Then there’s the slight sheen, giving the image a tactile quality that invites you to reach out and touch it. Look at the subject’s left eye. The soft gradations around the eye socket and cheek hint at the underlying structure of bone and muscle, which gives it life. This drawing reminds me of Lucian Freud, with his obsessive focus on the human form. I think art is an ongoing dialogue. It’s about adding your voice to the conversation and Haverman did that beautifully here.