Female Image. From the series 'Search for Pushkin's Female Images' 1970

This drawing, part of Hryhorii Havrylenko’s ‘Search for Pushkin’s Female Images,’ is made with ink on paper. The simplicity of the line is deceptive; it’s not just a contour but a way of feeling out the form, a slow dance between eye, hand, and the subject's inner life. Look at the hatching that defines the neck and chest, those tiny parallel lines. It’s not just about shading, it's like he's breathing life into the paper, giving weight and presence with the lightest of touches. It reminds me of Matisse’s drawings, that same sense of capturing a likeness with the bare minimum, an economy of means that speaks volumes about the artist's understanding of form. The whole thing has a meditative quality, an openness, inviting us to contemplate the nature of representation itself.