Huilende Lony zittend op een houten krat before 1954

Hans Borrebach made this drawing of Lony sitting on a crate with pen, ink, and watercolor. It's a process of building up form through simple marks, creating a space that feels both immediate and carefully considered. The texture of the paper peeks through the washes of pale blue and the stark black lines. Look at the ladder behind Lony, how the lines waver and overlap, giving it a sense of depth without adhering to strict perspective. It's like Borrebach is thinking through the forms as he draws them, letting us see the evolution of the image. Then there's the man in the foreground, that patch on his pants. It’s a quick detail, but it brings so much character to the figure. Borrebach's work has a graphic quality, like that of George Grosz, but with a tenderness and humour all of its own. It's a reminder that art isn't about perfection, but about the messy, beautiful act of seeing and translating the world around us.