Gezicht met één oog 1923

Editor: We're looking at "Gezicht met één oog" – "Face with One Eye" – a 1923 pencil drawing on paper by Erich Wichmann. It’s a striking image. I am immediately drawn to how abstract yet representational it is. It reminds me of surrealist art, but with a darker, more melancholic feel. What do you see in this piece, beyond the immediately visible? Curator: The power of this drawing, for me, lies precisely in the tension between representation and abstraction that you observed. Notice how Wichmann uses stark contrasts and subtle gradations of pencil to create volume and depth. Consider the significance of the solitary eye. Semiotically, the eye is the window to the soul. Its placement at the apex of this somewhat amorphous form creates an unsettling focal point. What does it signify to see only a single eye? Editor: It’s unsettling, definitely. Like being watched, but incompletely. The rough texture adds to the feeling that something is unresolved. Are there other structural elements that stand out to you? Curator: Note also the absence of conventional facial features, the suppression of the nose and mouth. This creates a fragmented form; we’re left to contemplate not only what we see, but what is missing. Is it a face at all? Or an abstraction representing inner turmoil? The texture is everything – consider the density of shading versus open areas on the paper to decode form. Editor: So, it’s less about a literal portrait and more about using formal elements to convey a state of being. The lack of symmetry really emphasizes the internal feeling. Curator: Precisely. And from a formalist perspective, the emotional impact arises directly from the interplay of line, tone, and texture within the defined space of the paper. The visible text adds another dimension, potentially ascribing meaning, although its effect is separate from pure form. Editor: I never thought about expressionism like that, decoding the feeling just through lines. I learned a lot. Curator: And hopefully you will now go forward examining form and its function. A work like this teaches us so much.