Untitled 1945

Here is an undated drawing by the Soviet-era collective known as Kukryniksy, done simply in pencil on paper. I am thinking about the movement of the hand across the page. See those nervous lines that define his shoulder? Quick flicks of the wrist to imply form, shadow, a whole persona. I feel like I am standing over the artist’s shoulder as they sketch – and I can almost sense their hand moving back and forth, trying to capture something essential about this person. They seem like they were really trying to *see* this guy. I wonder what he was thinking, sitting for his portrait. It feels casual but determined. We can feel the artist, and we can feel his subject. This drawing sits in dialogue with portraiture across history. It is another example of how mark-making on a surface can capture a likeness, an idea, a feeling. It remains in flux – as do we all.