Man met gesloten ogen Possibly 1943

This drawing, Man met gesloten ogen, by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, was made with pen on paper. The looping lines create a push-pull effect, almost like a game of peek-a-boo. I can imagine Mesquita, pen in hand, feeling the weight of the world, the uncertainty of his time. Maybe drawing was a way for him to mediate, to find some stillness amidst the chaos? The texture is smooth, but the overall effect is unnerving. The way he uses line to imply depth and shadow—it's like he's excavating the surface, digging into something hidden. The closed eyes seem heavy with an inner world. It reminds me of other artists, like Klee, or even some of Guston's later, more introspective drawings. There's a shared language of vulnerability. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Here I am, exposed, trying to make sense of it all.’ The act of artmaking is a form of embodied expression, and is about ambiguity and uncertainty. The closed eyes have multiple interpretations.