Walter Hasenclever 1917

Oskar Kokoschka made this drawing of Walter Hasenclever with charcoal, and it feels like an explosion of raw energy on paper. Kokoschka attacks the page with these furious, scribbly lines. The texture is rough, almost violent; the charcoal seems smudged and deeply embedded into the paper. Look at the way he renders the eyes, they're these dark, cavernous pools that pull you in. The strokes around the face are so frenetic, it's like he's trying to capture the very essence of the subject, not just their likeness. It's as if Kokoschka is wrestling with the paper, trying to pin down a fleeting emotion. You see this similar intensity in the portraits of Egon Schiele, who was doing similar work at that time. Both artists weren't interested in surface appearances; they wanted to dig deeper, to reveal the psychological depths of their sitters. This isn't just a portrait; it's a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the human psyche, and it leaves you with more questions than answers.