Gezicht van een reus met baret c. 1936 - 1940

Editor: Here we have Henk Henriët’s “Gezicht van een reus met baret,” or “Face of a giant with a beret,” created circa 1936-1940, using pencil on paper. It feels… whimsical, almost cartoonish, yet there’s also something a bit unsettling about the face. What stands out to you? Curator: What strikes me is the fragmented, almost spectral quality of the additional facial features above the primary portrait. It’s as if Henriët is layering impressions, perhaps revealing multiple facets of the giant's character, or even suggesting a fractured psyche. Do you see a sense of unease in the repetition? Editor: I do, now that you mention it. The first set of features gives a floating, disembodied feel. I guess I was too focused on the beret and slightly comical expression. Is the beret itself symbolic in any way? Curator: A beret can represent different things – status, perhaps, or artistic leaning. However, here I suspect it's more about anchoring the figure. Without it, the face might float away entirely. The beret and the suggestion of a ruffled collar seem to hint at a specific era, even while the rendering feels timeless. What stories does the face itself evoke for you? What historical archetypes might it reference? Editor: It makes me think of folk tales, of ogres and mythical creatures from a child’s imagination – stories with underlying anxieties and dark undertones. Curator: Precisely. And it is that tension, that blending of light-heartedness with an underlying disquiet, that makes Henriët’s work so compelling. He's tapping into our collective memories, our inherited understanding of the monstrous, and revealing the very human anxieties within. Editor: I see that tension much more clearly now. I originally saw a simple drawing, but it's much more complex and thought-provoking than I initially realized. Curator: Indeed, art invites us to see beyond the immediate, to delve into the layers of meaning woven into the very fabric of the image.