Portrait of engineer B.J.Zanis 1915

This is a pencil portrait by Zygmunt Waliszewski of engineer B.J.Zanis. Look how the artist coaxes form out of wisps of line. It's like he’s thinking through the drawing, letting the process itself guide him. The texture of the paper shows through, grounding the image. See how the lines around the hair are almost scribbled, energetic, while the lines defining the face are more deliberate, considered? I keep looking at the mouth and chin, how it’s barely there, a suggestion more than a statement. Waliszewski's work reminds me of Picasso's more intimate drawings, where the line has a life of its own. It makes me think about how much art is just a conversation with itself, a back-and-forth between intention and accident. It’s like the artist is saying, ‘Here’s what I see, but maybe you see something else too?’ And that’s the beauty of it, right?