Head of a Woman 1908

This ink drawing of a woman’s head was made by Abraham Walkowitz in 1908. Look at how Walkowitz used these dark, scratchy marks to build up the image, as if he was feeling his way across the surface. I can imagine him, bent over this small piece of paper, maybe in a cafe, trying to capture not just the likeness of this woman, but also something of her spirit, her inner life. There’s a real immediacy to it, like he’s trying to get something down quickly before it disappears. It reminds me of other artists like Guston or even Soutine, in the way that they used expressive lines to convey emotion. Artists are always talking to each other across time, you know? Looking, responding, pushing things further. For me, painting is this ongoing conversation.