An Elegant Young Man Glancing to the Side 1928

Hanna Nagel made this drawing of an elegant young man, glancing to the side, in 1928. The hatching, the cross-hatching, it’s all so present, isn’t it? It's like the artist wants us to see the process, to understand how the image is built up, line by line. I’m drawn to the contrast between the detailed rendering of the figure and the sketchier, almost ghostly, presence of the face in the background. There’s something unresolved about it, an ambiguity that invites speculation. And those hands! Look at the way Nagel has rendered them with such care, each line contributing to the overall form. The detail in those hands, contrasted with the almost cartoonish rendering of the man's face makes him a very interesting character, very much of his time but somehow still alive. It brings to mind the work of Otto Dix. But like Dix, Nagel leaves us with questions rather than answers, embracing the complexity of human experience.