Child's head 1906

Curator: Oh, the weight of those eyes... Editor: Indeed! We're looking at Andreas Achenbach's 1906 pencil drawing, simply titled "Child's Head." It's deceptively simple, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Simple like a folk song that holds the universe. Look at the shading around the eyes and mouth; there is an ache there that shouldn't exist on a face so young. It speaks to me of vulnerability laid bare. Like, "here, see my tenderest self". Editor: Symbolically, a child’s head carries immense weight. Innocence, potential, but also a reminder of mortality, given how quickly childhood passes. Achenbach has really captured something raw here. The large forehead also evokes the potential for burgeoning intelligence. It suggests that one day the boy may go on to achieve greatness. Curator: That huge forehead, yes! It's a tabula rasa begging for experience. It is also sort of sad to put the onus of future greatness onto the head of this boy. To me, it's an honest rendering, yes, but it's also touched with melancholy. You know? Like a memory fading. Editor: I can see that melancholy. Maybe it's the stark lighting, that emphasis on contrast. Drawing uses just a range of grays and white paper, focusing our attention entirely on form and expression. It is also rather formally rendered; very academic, to be certain. Curator: Yes, classical for sure. But for all of that it has the raw tenderness that great portraits do. Think about the ways mothers saved locks of baby hair in that era... this portrait is like that--a sacred lock of fleeting innocence rendered permanent. It is lovely and sad all at once. Editor: It makes you wonder who the child was and where his path took him. Art becomes such a fascinating meditation on life's uncertainties through symbolic imagery like this. Thanks, Andreas! Curator: Beautifully put. Yes, makes me want to hug my kids!