Vajda Lajos Profil Fej Apjáról 1922 1922

Vajda Lajos made this charcoal drawing of his father's head in 1922 and you can see the confidence and directness in the marks. The process is really out there on show. The beauty of charcoal is that it's so immediate, so raw, so easy to rework. Here, Lajos uses it to its full advantage, those smudgy blacks feel like a kind of emotional weather. Look at the right side of the beard, where the lines trail off. He’s captured the essence of a weighty presence with minimal fuss. It reminds me a bit of some of Kollwitz's portrait drawings. Both artists use the starkness of black and white to convey deep emotion. There’s a sense of melancholy, but also a profound respect. This drawing feels like an ongoing exchange, not just between father and son, but between artists across time. It’s less about answers, and more about the questions that art allows us to ask.