Staande man en twee bovenlichamen van mannen c. 1936 - 1940

Henk Henriët made this drawing of three men, likely with graphite, on paper. The lines are so active, so alive! Look at the figure on the left, toasting with a mug – you can feel the artist’s hand moving across the page, figuring him out, line by line. I imagine Henriët sketching quickly, trying to capture the essence of these characters with a few deft strokes. See how the lines suggest more than they define, leaving space for your imagination to fill in the details. The two other men are sitting next to each other, their presence less defined – perhaps they are background figures, or maybe the artist’s interest waned? There’s a wonderful looseness and freedom here that I admire. It reminds me that drawing, like painting, is a process of discovery. It's a conversation between the artist, the subject, and the medium, full of starts, stops, and revisions. In this exchange, Henriët invites us to join in, bringing our own perspectives and experiences to the scene.