Kenner 1923

Erich Wichmann made this drawing, Kenner, in 1923, though I don't know with exactly what. The tones are soft, a scale of grays that reminds me of charcoal but could equally be graphite. The lines almost breathe; they have a gentle, unassuming character, as if they’ve been coaxed onto the page rather than forcefully applied. See how Wichmann lets the form emerge tentatively, like a half-remembered dream? The face appears as though viewed through a veil, with the shadows around the eyes and mouth especially evocative. These marks feel intuitive, immediate. You can almost sense the artist’s hand moving across the paper, feeling its way through the contours of the face. It’s this quality that lends the work its palpable sense of intimacy and vulnerability. Thinking about other artists who explore similar territories of feeling, I’m reminded of the raw, expressive portraits by Käthe Kollwitz. Like Kollwitz, Wichmann seems less interested in capturing a likeness than in conveying a state of being, an emotional truth.