Mannenkop c. 1935 - 1936

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing called "Mannenkop" with graphite on paper. There are lists of ingredients, handwritten above the head of a man with a beard, possibly in a chef's notebook. What’s so great about this image is how Vreedenburgh has let the drawing emerge from the text itself. What was he thinking as he drew? Was he thinking? Or just letting the hand do its thing? I like that the face is upside down: is it a happy accident, or does it suggest a kind of world-turned-upside-down feeling? It reminds me that art-making is often a process of seeing what happens, where marks and gestures lead, even when—especially when—we’re not quite sure what we’re doing.