Zelfportret, mei 1942 1942 - 1945

Cor van Teeseling made this self-portrait in May 1942 with graphite on paper. It’s a head and shoulders view, and the drawing’s been built up with layers of soft, smudgy graphite marks. You can feel the artist gently coaxing this face into being. I wonder, what was it like to sit and really look at yourself back then? I see the careful attention he pays to the fall of light on his face and the subtle gradations that define his features. The texture is soft and the lines are delicate, creating a quiet, introspective mood. It reminds me of other artist's self-portraits, like those by Kathe Kollwitz, where the act of self-representation becomes a way to grapple with identity and mortality. There's a sense of vulnerability in the way the artist has rendered his own likeness, a willingness to confront himself on paper. Ultimately, I think it's a deeply human gesture of self-reflection.