Liggend stel en een vrouw met een parasol c. 1928 - 1930

Otto Verhagen sketched ‘Liggend stel en een vrouw met een parasol’ with pencil and watercolour, capturing a fleeting moment in time. Just look at the casualness of the marks! I wonder if Verhagen made it on the spot, maybe in a park or at the beach, quickly capturing the scene before it changed. I imagine him moving swiftly and trying to capture the essence of these figures. There is a clear distinction between the woman who is lying down with the man and the other with the green umbrella and the American flag bag! The first is drawn with a bit more detail using dark marks while the last is much lighter, almost evanescent. I feel Verhagen is in conversation with artists such as Daumier and Toulouse-Lautrec, all interested in depicting modern life. Through his sketches, Verhagen immortalizes these ordinary scenes, inviting us to reflect on the beauty and complexity of everyday existence. And that is something that moves me.