Hovedet af mandsperson 1901

This study of a head was made by Joakim Skovgaard, presumably in 1901 if the marking in the corner is anything to go by, using pencil and wash on paper. The way the lines are laid down, almost tentatively, gives it this lovely sense of searching, of the artist feeling his way around the form. I love the washes of transparent brown ink in the hair and face. They pool in the shadows, giving the face a sculptural weight, a kind of gravitas. Notice how the hair is only described with the barest of outlines, just these loose, looping lines that suggest the volume of the curls without defining them too precisely. That openness, that willingness to leave things unresolved, is what makes this drawing so compelling. It reminds me a little of some of Rodin’s drawings, where the figure emerges from a cloud of marks, never quite fully formed. It’s a reminder that art isn't about capturing a fixed reality, but about the ongoing process of seeing and thinking.