Hans Freimark 1915

Ludwig Meidner made this stark drawing of Hans Freimark in April 1915 with what looks like charcoal or pencil on paper. The lines are so restless, stabbing and jabbing to create this likeness. I can imagine Meidner standing before his sitter, charcoal in hand, intensely observing every twitch and flicker of expression. Look at how he renders Freimark's hair – not as a smooth mass, but as a series of frantic, energetic strokes, a bit like Van Gogh. The whole image pulses with a nervous energy, doesn't it? I mean, what was going on in Germany at the time? Meidner’s mark-making reminds us that the act of drawing, or painting for that matter, is an embodied conversation between the artist, the subject, and the medium. And in looking we join that conversation.