Portret van een speculant 1889 - 1944

Herman Moerkerk made this drawing of a speculator, with what looks like graphite on paper. I bet he sketched this quickly; it feels spontaneous. Look at the marks, those lines sketching out a man in a suit. A man with a serious face, and the gesture of his hands, clasped together so firmly. I wonder what the artist was thinking as he sketched, and the speculator. It looks like an advert, like something you might see in a newspaper! That sketchiness, that immediacy, gives it a real energy, don't you think? I imagine Moerkerk, quickly capturing the essence of the man and the moment. There's something almost comical about it, but something real too. It's a funny thing about drawings, isn't it? How a few lines can tell such a story, or at least hint at one, and how each artist learns from those that came before.