Portrét Márie Hanulovej 1938

Jozef Hanula made this portrait of Mária Hanulová with pencil and pastel, carefully layering the strokes to build up tone and form. I'm thinking about how the artist, Jozef, might have approached the task. Did he start with the eyes, trying to capture her spirit right away? Or did he begin with the outline of her face, slowly building up the details? I like to imagine his hand moving across the paper, feeling the give of the surface, and the gentle friction of the pastel. The soft pink background enhances the way her face emerges from the page, a serene and quiet presence. The way the pastel is worked into the paper gives it a kind of life, as if the portrait breathes. Portraiture, for me, is an act of conversation, a silent exchange between artist and sitter. It makes you wonder about the relationship between the two: how does the artist feel about the sitter? What do they want to communicate about her?