Man met een snor en aureool, de handen gevouwen over een wandelstok Possibly 1943

This is a drawing made by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, showing a man with a moustache and halo, his hands clasped over a walking stick. I'm looking at these figures, and I'm imagining Mesquita's hand moving across the page, guided by some inner vision. What was he thinking about when he made this? Was he experimenting with mark making, trying to find the perfect line to capture the essence of his subject? The marks are so sparse but full of character, especially around the hands. The face of the figure looks out at the viewer with big wide eyes. The figures here are so simple but the way they look at you creates an amazing psychological intensity, a dialogue between the artist, the subject, and us. It reminds me of other artists who use simple means to convey powerful emotions, like maybe some of Picasso's more pared-down drawings. These works speak to the power of art to connect us across time and space, inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling.