Verschillende figuren met hoeden c. 1936 - 1940

Henk Henriët made this drawing of various figures with hats, with pencil on paper. Look at the tentative, searching lines. The artist seems to be thinking through the act of drawing, letting us in on the process. I'm drawn to the figure on the right, standing alone with a hat and an overcoat. Henriët hasn't committed to the lines. He's trying to capture the weight of the body, with lines that keep shifting and re-adjusting. It reminds me of Giacometti's drawings – that sense of a figure emerging from the page, not quite there but full of potential. It is this figure who seems to embody the spirit of the drawing as a whole. The smudges on the page add to the sense of the drawing coming into being. Henriët, like many artists, invites us to see the world as a work in progress.