Verschillende figuren met hoeden c. 1936 - 1940

Henk Henriët made this pencil drawing called, "Verschillende figuren met hoeden" or "Different figures with hats," but the date is unknown. You can see the artist has returned to the heads several times, refining and defining them. I’m particularly drawn to that figure on the right, with the most prominent hat, as he seems more complete and self-assured than the others. I wonder if Henriët was feeling like the odd one out? Did he feel like he was trying on different personas, shifting between them? These ghostly figures bring to mind James Ensor’s masked characters, or maybe even some of Philip Guston’s hooded figures. They remind us that artists are constantly working through their relationships to the world, to other people, and to other images, experimenting with identity, being, and representation. They're all in conversation.