Achterhoofd van een kind c. 1922 - 1925

This drawing, 'Achterhoofd van een kind' – or 'back of a child's head' – by Otto Verhagen is made using what looks like a graphite pencil on paper, and it's so very delicate. I imagine Verhagen, with the paper on his lap, trying to capture the tender nape of a child’s neck. It's a lovely intimate moment, right? I wonder if the child was fidgeting, unaware of being immortalized in a drawing? The soft shading around the ear suggests a real attentiveness, almost like a caress. The artist’s hand moved with such care to create those simple lines, giving form and volume to the child’s head. It reminds me of some of the rapid sketches made by other artists, such as Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also had a passion for portraits of children. In a drawing like this, you can feel the artist's breath, and see them in conversation with all of art history at the very same time. It makes you feel that art is a human exchange more than anything else, and this drawing is a delicate embrace across time.