Zittende man met een stok c. 1922 - 1925

Otto Verhagen sketched this drawing, Zittende man met een stok, probably in a sketchbook, with graphite. Look at the marks, so tentative and vulnerable. Aren't they beautiful? Verhagen isn't showing off. He's just trying to get something down, and there’s something really generous about that, don’t you think? The way the strokes build up the figure, it's like he's feeling his way around the form, one line at a time. The way he indicates the shadow under the bench with those parallel lines. Simple, right? But it works! You could say this guy with his cane is just hanging out, sitting on his butt, but really, he’s a symbol. Someone like Verhagen reminds me that art is about paying attention, to what is around you, of course, but also what is inside you. And for me, that’s always a work in progress.