Zelfportret: B-1-1, 8 februari Possibly 1942

Cor van Teeseling drew this self-portrait with a pencil on February 8th, not long before he died. It's a delicate and poignant drawing. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the page, hatching and cross-hatching, building up the image through layers of graphite. I wonder what he was thinking as he looked in the mirror, capturing his likeness in those final moments. The subtle shading gives volume to his face, and those eyes, looking down and away, seem to hold a deep sadness. There's an intimacy to the work; a quiet vulnerability that reminds me of other artists who turned to self-portraiture in times of turmoil or reflection, like Käthe Kollwitz, for example. Artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and space, sharing and responding to each other’s visions. This drawing is an incredibly affecting statement, revealing something profound about what it means to be human.