Frauenschuh 1935

This is Wilhelm Heise's "Frauenschuh," a pencil drawing where the forms emerge delicately, as though coaxed onto the paper. I can imagine Heise's focus, gently layering graphite, building the plant form bit by bit. The palette is almost entirely monochromatic, built with subtle gradations of grey, which, paradoxically, makes me focus on the texture of the paper itself – its grain becomes part of the drawing. I wonder what Heise felt drawing this? Was he outside, or working from a specimen? There is a tension in the drawing between botanical accuracy and expressive form. Notice the base of the flower, the leaves tightly bunched, like a fist. It makes me think of Dürer’s botanical studies, but with a more personal, almost introverted touch. Heise is doing more than documenting; he’s feeling his way into the very essence of the plant. There is an ongoing conversation between artists and the world around them. Each mark, each choice of medium, is a way of participating in that exchange. It’s about how we see, how we feel, and how we translate that into something new.