Zelfportret en face met pet: B-1-1, 26 januari Possibly 1942

This pencil drawing, Self-Portrait with a Cap, was made on January 26th in 1941 by Cor van Teeseling. You can see it's a very tentative process, with all these delicate marks layering up to create the impression of his face and clothes. You know, looking at this, I feel like Cor is right there in the room with me, looking back at himself in the mirror and trying to capture his own likeness. The hat is really interesting, it's like he's trying to give himself a bit of artistic flair. It makes me think about other artists who've done self-portraits, like Rembrandt or Van Gogh, each trying to capture something essential about themselves. The pencil strokes are so light, so careful. There is a sense of vulnerability, which I think is really powerful. As artists, we're all kind of in conversation with each other, riffing off each other's ideas and techniques. And, it's like we are all part of this big, ongoing experiment of trying to make sense of the world through marks, lines and colors.