Weib II c. 1929

Karl Wiener made this drawing of a woman sometime before 1949, when he died. It’s a soft rendering in graphite and sanguine, I think, and it kind of glows from within. I can imagine Wiener hunched over the surface, coaxing the image out of the paper with tiny marks. There’s an incredible gentleness, a real tenderness, in the way he models her face and throat, those pinks and reds, like she’s blushing. I'm wondering if he was thinking of Italian Renaissance portraiture? Something about the pose, and the way the figure emerges from the dark background, gives it this kind of old master feel. But, then, there’s also something a little strange and unsettling, like in a Schiele drawing. It's like Wiener is in dialogue with his influences, transforming and responding to them. You know, that’s how we all learn. Anyway, it's a gorgeous drawing. And, ultimately, it’s about the human touch.