Portrait of a man with a beard (self-portrait?).

Drawing, graphite, 45,5 x 38,4 cm, vellum paper, signed and dated in graphite at lower right corner "Eekman '50", with official monogram stamp "NE" (red discolorisation in the paper due to water damage).

Original drawing by the Dutch artist Nico Eekman (1889-1973), whose works are now in many Dutch museums and institutes such as Kröller-Müller. His style can be described as expressionism tinged with cubism, and a sprinkle phantasmagoria. He was inspired by the Flemish painters of the sixteenth century such as Bruegel. In 1920 he settled permanently in Paris, where he became a close friend of Mondrian. Given the painters' apron and the resemblance to photographs of Eekman, the present drawing could be interpreted as a self-portrait. Compare to "self-portrait with fish" of 1951, which represents the artist without beard.