Portræt af ung mand, muligvis et selvportræt 1912

J.A. Jerichau made this portrait with ink on paper, and it's like catching a thought as it forms. The lines are confident but sparse, and the young man's face emerges from the page with a kind of casual intensity. I wonder what Jerichau was thinking about as they drew. There's something in the curve of the lip, the sideways glance of the eyes, that hints at a story. The marks feel direct, like the artist is trying to capture something fleeting, a feeling or a presence that might disappear if they linger for too long. You can see other lines beneath the main ones, like they were searching and playing before settling on the final ones. Looking at this, I am reminded of other artist’s portraits, like Alice Neel. There’s a similar kind of directness, a willingness to show the person as they are, without pretense. It’s like Jerichau is saying, "Here is this person, in this moment." And that's enough. These marks speak of what it means to be human, caught in the act of seeing and being seen.