Portrait of Fritz Meyer-Fierz 1909

Here's "Portrait of Fritz Meyer-Fierz" made by Jan Toorop, using what looks like pencil on paper. Look at those lines, quickly mapping out a likeness. You get a sense of the artist’s hand moving, feeling around for the form, right? I imagine Toorop stepping back, squinting, then diving back in to catch the light in the beard, the set of the jaw. It feels like he's trying to capture not just a face, but a person, a presence. I wonder what Toorop and Meyer-Fierz talked about while he sat for this portrait? I think about the creamy, almost buttery ground, against the graphite. The quick sketch against the luxurious gold. Like a meeting of two worlds: the immediacy of the sketch, the way it captures a fleeting moment, and the timelessness, and almost historical weight, of the medium. It reminds me that artists are always in conversation with each other. We’re all just trying to figure things out, one line, one brushstroke at a time. We hope the conversation continues.