Twee karikaturale figuren 1878 - 1944

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made these two caricature figures on paper, at some unknown date. The drawing is so economical! The artist’s hand is so visible, yet the lightest of touches has been used. It's like the figures have been caught in the act of emerging, shifting, as if the artist made marks, then erased them, and then made a few more! I am always interested in how a drawing or painting comes into being. I feel for the artist here, as I imagine him thinking about line and form, about expression, about the paper itself... The artist is working in the tradition of caricature, but he's not just copying reality, is he? He is adding something of himself, and his own feelings, to the image. The work resonates with the caricature works of Honoré Daumier, who was also interested in social commentary and character studies. Art-making is about conversation. It is about artists looking at each other’s work over time and inspiring each other to create new things. Each mark, each gesture, is an expression of an idea, a feeling, a thought.