Portret van R.J. Boers 1894 - 1919

This is a portrait of R.J. Boers made by an anonymous artist with graphite on paper. The soft, smudgy marks of the pencil create a hazy atmosphere around the figure, like a memory fading at the edges. Up close, you can see how the artist built up the form with countless tiny strokes, almost like the pointillist painters, but instead of color, they’re using tone to model the face. Look at the way the light catches the bridge of his nose, a subtle highlight amidst the dense hatching. The artist coaxes a sense of volume and depth through the physicality of the medium. The drawing is not about perfect likeness, but about capturing a presence, a mood, an essence. It reminds me a little of some of Lucian Freud’s drawings, not in style, but in the intensity of looking, the relentless pursuit of something just beyond the surface. Art isn’t about answers; it’s about the questions we ask along the way.