Puck mit in die Seite gestütztem Arm c. 1867 - 1868

Editor: This is Paul Konewka's "Puck mit in die Seite gestütztem Arm", a pencil drawing on paper from around 1867-1868. There's something very raw about this sketch – a quick study, almost like a glimpse into the artist's process. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I love that "glimpse" feeling; it is palpable, isn’t it? The aged paper whispers tales, don't you think? A fleeting pose, captured quickly. For me, it feels deeply personal. Look at the confidence of those lines! It’s the kind of drawing you do when no one is watching, when you are free to be imperfect, raw, yourself. Have you ever kept a sketchbook? Editor: I have. Not lately though. I know that feeling - it is an odd sense of intimacy, like the paper is holding something incredibly private. What strikes me is how vulnerable a simple line can be. Is this why this is a 'portrait' ? Curator: Perhaps "study" would be a more apt label than portrait. This makes it intriguing, no? Less about capturing likeness, and more about form, light, movement. It makes you wonder, what was Konewka working on at the time? What other sketches filled that very sketchbook? Did you notice the figure seems cropped, almost abruptly so? I suspect this sheet might have been salvaged or even *torn* from that sketchbook. Editor: I didn’t notice that, actually. You're right, it adds to that feeling of a stolen moment. Curator: Absolutely! That imperfection, the hint of incompleteness, is precisely what makes it so evocative. What do you take away from it now? Editor: Seeing it as a fragment of something larger, almost like finding a lost page from someone's diary, makes it all the more poignant. The simplicity becomes almost like a form of boldness. I would never be that 'brave'. Thanks! Curator: You’re welcome! That’s the magic of art, isn't it? Shifting our perspectives, allowing new insights to arise and… ultimately challenging ourselves.