Karikatuur van man met baard 1923

This caricature of a man with a beard was created by Erich Wichmann in 1923. The face hovers on the page, rendered in simple strokes of graphite or charcoal. It’s all tone, without a clear outline. I can imagine Wichmann hunched over this drawing, quickly making marks that capture the essence of this bearded man. The charcoal, smudged and blended, gives a soft, almost ghostly quality to the image. The artist focuses on the eyes, squinting and intense, and the weighty beard. What was he thinking as he made this? Was he amused, annoyed, or simply observant? You know, artists have always been in conversation with each other, across time. Wichmann’s quick sketch reminds me of other works, like some of Daumier’s political cartoons, raw and unflinching. Painting and drawing aren’t about fixed meanings; they’re more like whispers, open to endless interpretation. And in the end, it is through the act of looking that meaning emerges.