Portræt af Aage Barfoed 1910

This is J.A. Jerichau’s sketch of Aage Barfoed, made with pencil on paper, and it's interesting how Jerichau has embraced a kind of searching, tentative line. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the paper, trying to capture the essence of the sitter. Looking closely, the texture of the paper becomes part of the drawing, the pencil strokes catching on the surface to create a sense of depth and volume. The lines around the eyes and mouth, they're not just describing form, they're also conveying emotion, a sense of introspection maybe. The sketch feels unfinished, yet complete. There's a looseness to the handling of the pencil that reminds me of some of Giacometti's drawings, that same sense of searching, of never quite arriving at a definitive representation. Both artists remind us that art is a process of exploration and discovery, rather than a pursuit of perfection. The ambiguity is where the life is, you know?