George Platt Lynes c. 1937

Pavel Tchelitchew made this portrait of George Platt Lynes with some kind of red chalk or pastel – you can see how the marks build up the form. The color is really warm, and the lines are delicate, almost tentative, like he's feeling his way around the face. See that line that defines the right side of the nose? It almost melts into the cheek. It’s not about capturing a likeness, more about the process of looking, of trying to understand someone's essence. The texture is smooth but not polished, it feels raw, immediate. It reminds me a little of some of Giacometti’s drawings, that same search for a fleeting presence, a fragile humanity. Ultimately, it’s that embrace of the imperfect, the unfinished, that makes the drawing so compelling. It reminds us that art is less about answers and more about asking questions.