Untitled (Portrait of the art historian Dr. Annaliese Mayer-Meintschel) c. 1960

Ernst Hassebrauk made this portrait of Dr. Annaliese Mayer-Meintschel with graphite on paper. You can see how he carefully built up the image through many overlaid marks. Looking at this portrait, I'm picturing Hassebrauk deeply engaged in observing Mayer-Meintschel's face, capturing not just her likeness but something of her presence. The smudging gives it a ghostly feel. You can see the ghost of the chair behind her, too. It's like Hassebrauk is feeling out the form, trying to bring forth a sense of her being. It reminds me a bit of other portraitists, like Lucian Freud, in the way it tries to capture the inner life of the subject, not just the surface. There is a conversation happening across generations. Artists are always talking to each other through their work, you know?