Standing Figure 1913

Editor: Elemér de Kóródys' "Standing Figure" from 1913, rendered in ink, feels like an architectural sketch of a person. What I mean is that, it's as though a building is trying to stand like a person, a bit awkward, almost melancholic. How do you read this artwork? Curator: Ah, melancholic...yes! I love that jumping-off point. This reminds me of when I tried to build a birdhouse following instructions I did not understand. A "Standing Figure" but broken into geometric shapes – a deconstruction of form influenced by Cubism, but imbued with a distinct… unease, I would say. It invites us to reconsider how we perceive the human form, doesn’t it? Almost as though we are viewing this individual through a fractured mirror. Do you sense any tension between the geometric and the organic? Editor: I do now! It's like the artist is trying to fit a round peg into a square hole – or in this case, a round person into a world of squares. Was this sense of unease a common sentiment during the time it was created? Curator: Absolutely. The early 20th century was a period of massive upheaval - World War I was on the horizon. Artists grappled with feelings of displacement, fragmentation, and uncertainty, a crisis reflected here by this figure struggling, perhaps, to assemble themselves in a disorienting world. The visible brushstrokes also provide a wonderful human touch to all of this. I wonder if the figure finds a certain dignity through all of it. What do you think? Editor: Yes, absolutely. Despite the fragmentation, there's something undeniably human in the sketchiness. Curator: Precisely! De Kóródy captured more than just a physical likeness; it feels like he distilled an emotional truth about being human in a rapidly changing world, one pen stroke at a time. I now have so many feels! Editor: It is remarkable how such a seemingly simple sketch can evoke so many emotions and ideas about art.