Abstract Composition (Female Image) 1965

This untitled drawing was made by Hryhorii Havrylenko sometime during his lifetime with pen on paper. The bold vertical lines remind me of Agnes Martin, but the cross-hatched areas add depth and a playful chaos. I can imagine Havrylenko hunched over a desk with pen in hand, making these marks. You know, sometimes the simplest materials and processes can yield the most compelling results. I wonder if he made this from memory? There is a sense of rhythm created by the varying densities of the hatched lines that I find so compelling, as though they are dancing on the paper's surface. What looks like a female form takes shape in the empty space between the lines. Maybe Havrylenko was exploring both figuration and abstraction, hinting at a figure without fully defining it. Ultimately, artists like Havrylenko remind us that art is about more than just representation, it's about the act of seeing itself, a journey of discovery, and of exchange across time.