Man with a Dagger 1916

Hans Richter made this drawing, Man with a Dagger, using graphite on paper. It's not about a perfect representation, but a process, a way of seeing and thinking. Look at how the graphite smudges and varies in tone. You can almost feel Richter’s hand moving across the page, building up the forms with these frantic, energetic marks. See the dark lines that form the dagger-wielding figure? They are more like scribbles than careful outlines, conveying the immediacy of the moment. The drawing feels unstable, like a fleeting thought captured in charcoal. It reminds me a little of Kokoschka, in its raw expressionism. But where Kokoschka is emotionally charged, Richter seems more interested in deconstructing form. It’s like he’s saying, "Here’s a man, here’s a house, but really, it’s all just lines and shadows, open to endless interpretation."