Twee mannen met een hoofddeksel c. 1936 - 1940

Henk Henriët made this drawing of two men with hats, we don't know exactly when, using graphite on paper. It feels like he was trying to figure out their characters as much as their likenesses, the way the lines are tentative and searching. Look at the man on the left, the frantic scribbles around his hand. It's like Henriët is trying to capture a fleeting gesture. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the page, building up the form bit by bit. The lines are light and airy, but there's a real intensity to them. You see this kind of close looking in the work of Käthe Kollwitz, who was also drawn to working people. Both artists seem less interested in perfect representation, and more invested in the emotional reality of the subject. It is a reminder that art is not about answers, but about the questions we ask.