After the Hunt 1962

Wesley Chamberlin made this lithograph, called 'After the Hunt,' probably using a grease crayon on a stone or plate to create this shadowy portrait. It’s the kind of drawing that feels like the artist was figuring something out as they went along. The portrait is rendered with so many delicate, scratchy marks, with some areas of the face built up with dense, almost velvety blacks. Look closely at the right side of the face, see how the charcoal seems to dissipate into the white of the paper? There’s a real sensitivity to the way he shades and models the form. It feels raw, immediate, like you’re seeing the artist’s thought process laid bare on the surface. Chamberlin, who was only 50 when he died, reminds me a little of Elizabeth Peyton, with a similar knack for capturing a fleeting emotional state, and using the materiality of drawing to create a mood, to express tenderness and vulnerability.