Geabstraheerd gezicht met open mond 1923

This piece is an undated graphite drawing on paper by Erich Wichmann, titled "Abstracted Face with Open Mouth". What grabs me is the way the face just barely emerges from the ground of the paper. It's like a ghost, sketched with a kind of searching tenderness. The graphite is so soft, smudged, almost like he’s trying to feel his way into the form, more than define it. Look at the mouth – that dark, cavernous opening. It’s the focal point, but it's also just a void, a place of uncertainty. That single dark mark used for the nose seems to ground the image, preventing it from totally dissolving. The drawing embodies a lot of ambiguity, its like a question rather than a statement. Wichmann's work reminds me a bit of Odilon Redon, that same dreamlike quality, but with a rawer edge. It feels like a glimpse into the artist’s mind, a fleeting moment of recognition, refusing any easy answers.