Portret van een onbekende man met een hoed 1934

Henk Henriët made this portrait of an unknown man with a hat, using graphite on paper. You can see how Henriët builds up the shading with very fine, almost nervous strokes. It's like he’s feeling his way around the form, bit by bit. Look at how the graphite gathers, creating darker areas that define the man’s features. The line is so delicate in places, yet he coaxes a real sense of volume and light from the medium. The hatching around the jacket has a real energy and the face seems to emerge from the page. Then the hand looks so relaxed, propping him up. Henriët reminds me of Lucian Freud, someone who was also interested in what could be gleaned by direct looking, that drawing and painting are a process of constant discovery. It suggests that Henriët was thinking about how we come to know something, or someone. It’s never a finished product, but a work in progress.