Czóbel Béla 1940 Dery Tibor 1940

Bela Czobel drew this portrait of Dery Tibor in 1940 using what looks like charcoal. The nervous energy of the marks, how they build up to create the darks of the eyes and hair, it's all about process. Looking at the work, I'm drawn to how Czobel used the charcoal to really sculpt the face with light and shadow. See how the lines around the jaw and neck are scrubbed in, almost like he's erasing as he goes? It gives the drawing a sense of movement and life. The eyes are like dark pools, so intense, while the rest of the face is just suggested. This reminds me a little of Kokoschka’s portrait drawings. There’s a similar kind of psychological intensity, a rawness. But where Kokoschka goes for detail, Czobel keeps it loose, more about feeling. It is a reminder that art is as much about what you leave out as what you put in.