Portret van Zus in een stoel met een pop 1928

Here we have ‘Portret van Zus in een stoel met een pop’, made with pencil and crayon. The artist, Otto Verhagen, is working it out as he goes along, with the ghost of another drawing of Zus hovering above her head. It’s a lovely study in process. What’s cool about a work like this is how the marks and gestures feel provisional, as if we're getting a peek into the artist's mind. Take a look at the shading on the chair. See how the strokes are economical, angular? They get the job done, but there’s no attempt to conceal the mechanics of how the drawing was made. The sketchy lines build up form gradually. It reminds me a bit of Alice Neel, with that same directness and lack of fussiness. Both artists seem more interested in capturing the essence of their subjects than in technical perfection. It's a celebration of art as an ongoing conversation, embracing imperfection and the beauty of the incomplete.