Zelfportret met pet: B-1-1, 26 januari Possibly 1942

Cor van Teeseling made this self-portrait with pencil on paper in January 1942. Look at the delicacy of the lines, the way the shading softly models his face and cap, and the crispness of the collar. You can see how the artist has built up the image layer by layer. The pencil marks almost caress the paper, creating a luminous effect. I wonder what he was thinking as he stared at himself in the mirror? Did he see a ghost of what was to come? You know, the funny thing about portraiture is that it has a kind of presence which is really like a stand-in for the person themselves. I love the subtle way Teeseling captures his own likeness. You could see in his face a little bit of Modigliani, and the German Expressionist painter, Otto Dix. Artists are always referencing one another, whether consciously or unconsciously, in an ongoing dialogue across time. Each brushstroke, each mark, is a continuation of this conversation.