Female image 1976

This is Hryhorii Havrylenko's "Female image," made with what looks like pencil on paper. See how he's built up her face and hair with these insistent, rhythmic lines? I'm imagining Havrylenko sitting with his model, maybe in a simple room, focused intently, trying to capture something essential about her. It feels almost like he's mapping her face, understanding it through touch as much as sight. The marks are a bit like the frenetic energy of a Cy Twombly drawing, or a Giacometti sculpture where the surface feels alive with every touch of the hand. The hatching creates a sense of depth, but also flattens the image, abstracting it. I wonder, what was Havrylenko thinking about when he made this? Was it a study, an end in itself, or something else? The blank space around the drawing makes me think he felt that it didn't need to be filled or finished. Artists like Havrylenko are having a conversation with all of art history, echoing and riffing on what's come before. The artist embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.