Self Portrait in a Shaving Mirror 1942

Armin Landeck made this etching, Self Portrait in a Shaving Mirror, sometime in the middle of the twentieth century. The whole thing is built up from such fine, wiry lines; a real feat of close looking and careful mark making. I'm always fascinated by the sheer concentration required to make something like this. The surface has a cool, silvery tone, created by the ink on the paper, and the way Landeck coaxes so much out of such a limited palette is really impressive. Just look at the eyes, magnified by his glasses, and those sharp, almost brittle lines that define his face. It’s tempting to compare Landeck's approach to that of someone like Lucian Freud, another artist interested in seeing and showing the unvarnished truth. Art making is always a conversation. It's about seeing what's come before and then adding your own voice to the mix. Ultimately, the meanings we find in art are never fixed, and maybe that’s the whole point.