Countee Cullen 1925

Winold Reiss made this portrait of Countee Cullen with pastels and pencils on paper. The drawing comes into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Reiss, picturing what it might have been like to create this portrait. The texture of the paper is still visible, which makes me think Reiss wanted to keep some sense of lightness and air. Cullen is looking off to the side, maybe he was thinking about his poetry? The quick marks of pastel around Cullen’s face and hair show Reiss understood how the medium captured light and shadow. There’s a conversation happening here between Reiss and Cullen, a sort of exchange of ideas about art and life. As painters, we are always in an ongoing conversation with artists across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.