Portrait of Zofia Romer 1935

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz made this portrait of Zofia Romer in 1935, most likely with pastels or charcoal. Just look at the mark making, so gentle and tender! I can just imagine Witkiewicz, his hand dancing across the paper, coaxing her likeness out of the shadows. What was he thinking as he drew Zofia's eyes, those pools of warm brown that seem to hold a lifetime of stories? Did he see her vulnerability, her strength? Did he try to get at who she really was? I think Witkiewicz was part of a larger conversation about what it means to be human, what it means to capture a soul on canvas, and you can see how this is rooted in a long history of portraiture. Each stroke a whisper, each smudge a secret shared between artist and subject. This drawing becomes a mirror reflecting not just Zofia's image but the artist's own quest for understanding.