Yasuo Kuniyoshi c. 1930 - 1932

This is Emil Ganso’s drawing of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, most likely made with graphite on paper. Look at that line, how it confidently loops and intersects! There’s such assurance in the way Ganso captures Kuniyoshi’s likeness with just a few strokes. It’s all line, really, and a little bit tentative, as if Ganso is feeling his way through the portrait. The glasses are perfect, you can feel the weight of them on the bridge of his nose! And the pipe – that little prop adds so much character. The paper itself becomes part of the image; it's a pale ground for the black line. In this way, it reminds me of some of Matisse’s late drawings, all energy and confidence. But unlike Matisse, Ganso is more casual, leaving ghostly traces of process behind. Ultimately, it’s this visible history of artmaking which makes it so appealing.